«-w»*»»^*w**^%^^ 



2109 her Jonathan Monthly Library, No. 3. 



.1168 
1843 



l T 



Copy 2 



FRENCH 

WITHOUT 

A MASTER. 

In Six Easy Lessons. 

FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE FOURTH BRUSSELS EDITION. 



NaD-Jtork: 

WILSON AND COMPANY, BROTHER JONATHAN PRESS. 

This number of the Monthly Library contains Two Sheets. Postage, under 100 miles, three cents ; 
over 100 miles, five cents, D3° Price 25 cents per copy. 






COURSE OF LESSONS 



IN THE 



PEENCH LANGUAGE, 



ON THE 



EOBERTSONIAN METHOD; 



INTENDED FOR 

THE USE OF PERSONS STUDYING THE LANGUAGE WITHOUT 
A TEACHER. 

A. H. MONTEITH, ESQ., 

HON. MEMB. OF THE W. L. C. 



FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE FOURTH BRUSSELS EDITION. 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY WILSON & COMPANY, 

162 NASSAU STREET. 

SOLD ALSO BY BURGESS AND STRINGER, 222 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. — ZEIBER AND CO., 

LEDGER BUILDINGS, PHILADELPHIA. REDDING AND CO., STATE ST., BOSTON. 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, BALTIMORE. — GEORGE JONES, ALBANY. — BRAVO AND MORGAN, 

MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE, NEW ORLEANS. A. HEAD, CHARLESTON, S. C. M. BOULLE- 

MET, MOBILE, ALA. — S. A. HOLMES, AUGUSTA, GA. — G. S. TAINTOR, NATCHEZ, MISS. 

W. N. HALDEMAN, LOUISVILLE, KY. J. B. LOAK, UTICA, N. Y. — JOHN JONES, ROCH- 
ESTER, N. Y. — L. SMITH, POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y, — J. ROBERTSON, SYRACUSE, N. Y.— « 
JOHN GREEN, PROVIDENCE, R. I. — WOODWARD AND*M*THEWS, ST. LOUIS, MO. 

MDCCCXLIII. 4 






PREFACE 



The object of the present course of lessons is to give persons disposed to study the 
French language without the aid of a teacher, some directions "for their guidance, and 
to furnish them with a model whereon their studies may be advantageously prose- 
cuted. 

In order the more perfectly to supply the part of a teacher, a comprehensive, and 
at the same time practical view of pronunciation has been given, together with such 
elucidations of the sounds peculiarly French as will enable the learner to enunciate 
them with a sufficient degree of accuracy. 

The prevalent notion that it is impossible to acquire French without a teacher, ap- 
pears to have arisen from the lugubrious attempts of grammarians who have under- 
taken to explain the pronunciation of the language. No human intellect could possi- 
bly digest, and bring to bear on the words of the language, the pages of unintelligible 
rules and ill-organized observations they have amassed with this view. In the present 
course of lessons this prolixity has been carefully avoided ; and while no useless de- 
tail has been introduced, every essential point is fully explained, and brought prom- 
inently before the observation of the learner. French words being written in most 
cases exactly as they should be pronounced, there is nothing to prevent the acquisition 
of their pronunciation by theory ; and the generality of persons who study the language, 
by relying upon the ear, that deceives them at every step, and by losing sight of the 
iheory, neglect the only certain means whereby they can acquire a really good pro- 
nunciation. 

A great many otherwise intelligent persons run away with the idea that French 
may be acquired by going to France ; this is an excessively vulgar notion, and means 
that the language may be acquired by intuition, or some other magical process. 
Whether in France or England, persons of mature years will not acquire the language 
thoroughly without a diligent and assiduous study of its principles ; hundreds of 
pounds have been expended by Englishmen, both in this country and in France, with 
a view to acquire French, without having attained the desired object: all the wealth 
of the Indies, and all the teachers in Christendom, will not suffice for the purpose, 
where diligence or intelligence is wanting on the part of the learner himself. On the 
other hand, any Englishman of ordinary capacity, whether in his own country or in 
France, whether with or without a teacher, if he set his mind earnestly to the subject, 
may, in the course of twelve or eighteen months, become perfectly conversant with 
the language. 

The present short course of lessons, besides containing a full expose of the pronun- 
ciation, comprises an explanation of the chief difficulties the learner has to encounter, 
and will enable the diligent student, without the aid of any kind of oral instruction 
whatever, to see his way clearly into the materiel of the language. 

& wu 



THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. 



LESSON FIRST. 



READING 



Trois voyageurs trouverent un tresor dans leur chemin. 
et dirent, "Nous avons faim, qu'un de nous aille acheter de 
quoi manger," un d'eux se detacha et alia dans l'intention 
de leur apporter de quoi faire un rep as. 



Before the learner can read the above, he must first be taught the pro- 
nunciation of the words and their meaning. We shall therefore first 
place under each word such a combination of letters as may convey a 
notion of its sound to the English student. Afterward we shall exhibit 
the meaning of each word in a literal translation of the entire passage. 
This done, the learner will be able to translate into English and to pro- 
nounce the text of the lesson, if not with absolute accuracy, at least with 
a sufficiently close approximation. It is not indeed to be expected that 
the learner should be altogether perfect the first step he makes in a lan- 
guage. A portion of each lesson will be reserved to point out the true 
pronunciation of such French sounds as can not be exactly exhibited by 
a combination of letters. 

The following is a repetition of our text, with the pronunciation of the 
words, as also their euphonic connexion one with another, according as 
the language is read and spoken by a well-educated native of Parts. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un tresor dans leur chemin, 
Trwa wa-ee-a-shair troo-vair-t ^ un* trai-zor dan lair she-mzw, 

* £or the pronunciation of the combinations an, en, in, on, and wn, marked in 
italics, -we refer the student to the article Pronunciation, page 12. 



4 TRANSLATION. 

et dirent, " Nous avons faim, qu'un de nous aille acheter de 
ai deer, Noo-z,^ av-o» fin, kun ^ d noo-z^ah-ye ash-tai w d 

quoi manger;" un d'eux se detacha et alia dans 
kwa maw-shay un d^ai w s day-tash-a ai al-la den 

l'intention de leur apporter de quoi faire un repas. 
in-ten-see-on^ d lair ap-por-tai > __, d kwa fair un re-pa. 

In order to read the above as it ought to be, the learner should deal 
with the verbal pronunciation we have given just as if the combina- 
tions of letters that represent the French sounds were so many English 
words. There are no unheard-of sounds in French that require the fea- 
tures to be distorted in enunciating them. The learner must avoid all 
straining, all effort, if he desires to speak French correctly. 

Before leaving this part of the subject we may observe, that a little 
attention to the pronunciation now will be worth more than a hundred 
times the amount of labor afterward ; the same words will occur over 
and over again throughout this and the lessons that are to follow, so that 
a correct pronunciation at the outset will be of the greatest utility. 

The sign w we have used, indicates that the words or letters it joins 
are to be pronounced as one word, and the sign - over the ai signifies 
that these letters should be pronounced with a more open sound than 
usual. 

TRANSLATION. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un tresor dans leur chemin, et 
Three travellers found a treasure in their road, and 

dirent, " Nous avons faim, qu'un de nous aille 
said, " We have hunger, that one of us may go (let one of us go) 

acheter de quoi manger ;" un d'eux se detacha 

.to buy of what (whereof) to eat;" one of them himself detached 

et alia dans l'intention de leur apporter de quoi 
and went in the intention of to them to bring of what (whereof) 

faire un repas. 
to make a repast. 

Aided by the above translation the student may read into good English the 
text itself. And now that the meaning of the words, as well as their pro- 
nunciation are understood, the learner should accustom himself to reading 
the French aloud ; this exercise will familiarize the ear with a correct 
enunciation of the words, and serve to impress them more firmly on the 
memory. 



PHRASES. 



5 



VOCABULARY. 

As it is essential to the march of our method that the learner should 
be perfectly familiar with every French word introduced into a lesson, 
both as regards its general meaning and precise logical value, we shall 
range all the words with their various translations in separate columns, 
so that he may be enabled to test his proficiency in this particular. This 
may be done advantageously in the following manner : cover over with a 
card the English column, and translate each French word aloud; verify- 
ing this translation by removing the card from the translation given of it. 
After all the French words have been turned into English in this way, 
cover over the French column of words, and translate in the same man- 
ner the English words into French. This exercise should be repeated 
until all the English words can be rendered into French, and the French 
words into English with perfect facility. 



Trois . 


three 


de 


of 


voyageurs 


travellers 


aille 


may go 


trouverent 


found 


acheter 


to buy 


un . . 


( one 


quoi 


what 




manger 


to eat 


tresor . 


treasure 


eux 


them 


dans 


in 




( himself 
I themselves 




( their 
( to them 


se . . 


ieur 


detacha 


detached 


chemin . 


road 


alia . 


went 


et 


and 


la 


the 


dirent . 


said 


intention 


intention 


nous 
avons . 


C we 
I us 
have 


apporter 
faire . • 


to bring 
( to make 
( to do 


faim 


hunger 
i that 


repas . 


repast 


que 


I what 







It will be observed that some of the French words have two significa- 
tions, as in the case of the word leur, meaning in one case their, and in 
another, to them ; the reason of this will be explained under the head 
Construction. 



PHRASES. 

Not only must the learner, who desires to profit by our lessons, make 
himself familiar with each word in a sentence, but he must also observe 
carefully how words are made up into sentences, and the difference be- 



De quoi 



6 CONVERSATION. 

tween the French and English manner of constructing phrases. All the 
points in which the French construction differs from the English must 
be sedulously noted and stored up in the memory. To assist the learner 
in doing this, we shall now arrange the sentences of the lesson, with 
their English equivalents, in opposite columns, so that the student may 
subject himself to a self-examination in the same manner as in the case 
of the previous exercise. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un tre- Three travellers found a treasure 

sor 

Et dirent .... And said 

Nous avons faim . . . We are hungry 

^ , j •„ { Let one of us go 

Quun de nous aille . . < ^ e ° 

^ \ One of us must go 

Acheter And buy 

Whereof 

Wherewithal 

The wherewith 
_ Something 

Manger To eat 

Un d'eux . . . One of them 

Se detacha .... Departed 

Et alia And went 

Dans l'intention ... In the intention 
De leur apporter ... Of bringing to them 
De quoi faire .... Wherewith to make 
Un repas .... A meal 

It will be observed, that the phrases as well as the words have occa- 
sionally two translations in English ; qrfun de nous aille, for instance, is 
Tendered in English by one of us must go, as well as let one of us go. It 
-vill be observed, at the same time, that these English expressions are as 
marly as possible equivalent in meaning. 



CONVERSATION. 

One of the original features in the present course of lessons, and cer- 
tainly not one of the least utility, is that of introducing in the first lesson 
an exercise in conversation, on the subject-matter of the lesson, and in 
the words of which it consists. Facility in conversation is the object 
sought by every student of French ; but it is not to be attained by the usual 
mode of instruction. In this particular our first lesson will place the 
learner on a par with the student who has obtained his degrees at the 
University of Oxford or Cambridge, where the most able masters may be 
supposed to preside. 



CONVERSATION. 7 

In order to converse in French it will be necessary to become familiar 
with the following words used in asking questions : — 



Ou 

Quand 

Qui 


where 
when 
who 


pronounced 
(i 


like oo in good. 

kang. 

kee. 










C giving the letters the sound 


Que 


what 


«< 


ki. 


< they have in the English 
( word kill. 


lis 
11 


they 
he 


u 
« 


eel. 
eel. 




Pour 


for 


It 


poor. 


( giving the o's the sound they 
I have in the word good. 


Le 


the before words in the singular pronounced like the letter I. 


Les 


the before words in the 


plural pronounced like le in the word let. 


Oui 
Non 


yes 
no 


pronounced 


we. 
nong. 




Monsieur 


sir 


u 


mos-y 


>ai* 



The pronunciation and meaning of all the other words introduced into 
the conversation have been already given. If then the previous exercises 
have been carefully gone over, there can be no difficulty with this. The 
learner should pronounce each question aloud, and proceed with the 
answers in the same manner as with the translation of the words and 
sentences. 

Que trouverent les trois voyageurs ? Un tresor. 

Les trois voyageurs trouverent-ils Oui, Monsieur. 

un tresor ? 

Ou ? Dans leur chemin. 

Trouverent-ils de quoi manger ? Non, Monsieur. 

Que dirent-ils 1 ... lis dirent " nous avons faim.* 

Quand ? . . . . Quand ils trouverent un tresor. 

Dirent-ils " nous avons de quoi Non, Monsieur. 

manger ?" 

Dirent-ils " nous avons de quoi Non, Monsieur. 

faire un repas V 

* We are always disposed to laugh when we hear an Englishman pronounce 
the word " Monsieur," he generally makes such a mess of it. It seems impossible 
to teach this sound by the ear: not two, in twenty Englishmen, who have been taught 
the language by a master, pronounce it correctly, and yet there is no French sound 
more easily depicted to the eye. "We have heard persons who had been one, two, nay 
three years under tutelage, pronounce the word as if written moo-soo ; now nothing 
could be more grating to the ear of a well-educated Frenchman than to hear himself 
addressed by such a barbarism as moo-soo. The word monsieur is pronounced as if 
written mos-yai, and the plural messieurs as if written mes-yai; could anything be 
plainer than this ? 






8 



CONSTRUCTION. 



Dirent-ils "qu'un de nous aille 
acheter de quoi manger ?" 

Quand dirent-ils "nous avons faim ?" 

Ou dirent-ils " qu'un de nous aille 
acheter de quoi manger ?" 

Qui se detacha ? 

Se detaeha-t-il ? 

Quand? ..... 

Pourquoi se detacha-t-il ? . 
Ou alla-t-il ? . 

Alla-t-il dans l'intention d'apporter 

de quoi faire un repas ? 
Quand? . 
Que dirent les trois voyageurs quand 

ils trouverent un tresor ? 
Quand les trois voyageurs dirent 

" nous avons faim," que trou- 

verent-ils ? 
Quand les trois voyageurs trouver- 

ent-ils un tresor 1 



Oui, Monsieur. 

Quand ils trouverent le tresor. 
Dans leur ehemin. 

Un d'eux. 

Oui, Monsieur. 

Quand les voyageurs dirent " nous 

avons faim." 
Pour acheter de quoi manger. 
II alia leur acheter de quoi fair Un 

repas. 
Oui, Monsieur. 

Quand il se detacha. 

Qu'un de nous aille acheter de quoi 

faire un repas. 
Un tresor. 



Quand ils dirent "nous avons faim." 



CONSTRUCTION. 

We shall now point out such peculiarities in the structure of the pas- 
sage we have given as may serve to illustrate generally the construction 
of the language. 



I. 



Que trouverent les trois voyageurs ? 
Quand trouverent-ils le tresor ? 
Dans ^'intention, for dans la inten- 
tion 



What found the three traveller ? 
When found they the treasure ? 
In the intention. 



[t will be observed by these phrases, that the French word equivalent 
to the English article the has three forms, viz. — le, la, and les. The French 
article is disposed in the following manner : — 



le is used before a noun in the masculine gender. 

la " " feminine gender. 

les " " plural number of both genders. 

In English the word the is invariable ; whether it comes before a mas- 
culine, a feminine, or a plural noun, it is always the same. The English 
say, for instance, the man, the woman, and the women ; but a different form 



CONSTRUCTION. 9 

of the article would be employed in French under these three circum- 
stances. 

We may observe here, that nouns in English are said to be of three 
genders : the word man is said to be of the masculine gender ; the word 
woman is said to be of the feminine gender ; and the word treasure is 
is said to be in the neuter, or no gender : this is a natural division, but 
somehow or other it does not happen to be a grammatical one. In French 
there is no such thing as a neuter gender ; all the nouns of the language 
must either be masculine or feminine ; the word tresor, for instance, is 
said to be masculine, and the word intention is said to be feminine. As a 
different form of the article must be used in each of these cases, it be- 
comes a matter of some moment to know to which of the two genders 
any particular word may belong, we shall therefore give rules that will 
enable the learner to distinguish the gender of nouns when they become 
necessary. In the meantime the gender of the words in the lesson must 
be judged by the form of the article that exists before them ; thus tresor 
will be recognised as masculine, since le stands before it. The learner, 
then, must take care always to render " the treasure" into French, by le 
tresor : it would be a blunder to write or pronounce la tresor. There is 
no difficulty about words in the plural, the same form of the article is al- 
ways before them ; thus we say les intentions and les voyageurs, although, 
as we have seen, the former of these words is feminine, and the latter 
masculine. 

II. 

Un d'eux ..... One of them. 
Dans Tintention .... In the intention. 
Qw'un de nous aille . . . Let one of us go. 

When the words le or la, the, que, that, or de, of, come before another 
word beginning with a vowel, the a of the one and the e's of the others 
are invariably cut off. This is done in order to avoid the too frequent 
recurrence of two vowels, these little words being very much used in 
French. The student, therefore, in writing, must take care when he has 
the two words de and eux for example coming together, to cut off the e 
of the de, and be careful at the same time to supply its place with an 
apostrophe, as in the sentences given above. 



III. 

Qu'un de nous aille 
That one of us may go 

The above phrase occurring in our text, exhibits a very common mode 



> Let one of us go. 



10 CONSTRUCTION. 

of expression. The sentence " qu'im de nous aille" is incomplete ; the 
words " il faut," it is necessary, being understood. The phrase entire 
would be " il faut qu'un de nous aille," it is necessary that one of us go, 
or one of us must go. It is however the defective form of the phrase, the 
form which appears in our text, that is generally employed, and conse- 
quently that is the form the student ought to imitate when he has a simi- 
lar expression to turn into French. Being imperfect, the phrase when 
translated literally into English does not exhibit the sense it is meant to 
convey. The best way to deal with such a phrase, is to consider it en- 
tire, without regarding individually the words of which it is composed, 
and look upon it as equivalent to a certain other phrase in English ; deal 
with it, in short, in the same manner as if it were a single word. We can 
not approve of the manner adopted in a grammar of some note,* of ex- 
plaining this difficulty by saying, that " que" supplies an ellipsis, and ergo, 
that que is equal to let; such a solution of the difficulty is likely to beget 
a notion in the mind of the learner that que, in French, has the significa- 
tion of the English word let, while these two words have not, nor can 
they logically have, any meaning in common. 

A similar kind of construction to that under consideration occurs in 
the Latin language ; we find frequently the Roman writers employing 
the subjunctive as an imperative, for instance in the well-known verse 
of Virgil — 

ilia se jactet in aula 



iEolus, et clauso ventorum carcere regnet." 

" Qu' Eole se contente de regner sur ses rochers, et d'exercer son pou- 
voir dans ses sombres cachots." 

" Let JEolus vaunt himself 'in his own hall, and let him reign in the 
closed prison of the winds." 

Here we have a similar construction in Latin to that of " qu'un de nous 
aille" in French ; but think of a " tyro" translating the Latin relative qui 
by let ! We shall have occasion to revert to the logic of the construction 
of " qu'un de nous aille" in a future lesson. In the meantime it will be 
sufficient for the guidance of the student to say, that when he has an 
English phrase to translate, beginning with let, implying a command, he 
must set out in French with the word que. Two or three phrases of 
this kind will be introduced into the exercise on composition, in order to 
habituate the learner to this mode of expression. 

* Grammar of the French Language, by J. C. Delille. 



CONSTRUCTION. 



11 



IV. 



What did the three travellers 
find? 



What did they say ? 
Did they say ? 



Que trouverent les trois voyageurs ? ) 
What found the three travellers ? y 

Que dirent-ils ? 
What said they? 

Dirent-ils 1 
Said they ? 

In English there are two ways of asking a question ; with the auxili- 
ary word did, or without it: a question can either be put in the form, 
" Did they say so and so," or, " Said they so and so." In French there 
is no such word as did, that can be made use of in this way, the French 
therefore can not put a question in the first of these forms, and conse- 
quently are obliged to employ the second. In framing a question, the 
student must always bear in mind, that the word did has no equivalent 
in French — he must bear in mind that there are two manners of asking 
a question in English, one of which accords with the French idiom, and 
may be translated literally : but that the other can not be rendered word 
for word into French. It will be observed that in English the word did 
is merely a sign of the past time, and may be dispensed with by using a 
past tense of the verb itself. In the phrases, " Did the travellers find a 
treasure ;" and, " Found the travellers a treasure ;" the words " did find" 
in the one, and the word " found" in the other, are precisely equivalent. 

Some English interrogative phrases containing the word did will be 
introduced into the exercises under the head of Composition. To trans- 
late these correctly into French, the learner must, as we have said, bear 
in mind that the question did he go ? can be put in a shape without the 
did, as, went he ? and that this last form of a question alone can be 
rendered literally into French. 



V. 

Les voyageurs trouverent-ils un 

The travellers found they a 

tresor ? 

treasure ? 

Les voyageurs dirent-ils, " Nous ~] 
The travellers said they, " We 

avons un tresor ?" 

have a treasure?" 

Quand les voyageurs trouverent-ils 
When the travellers found they 

un tresor ? 
a treasure ? 



Found the travellers a treasure ? 



Said the travellers, 
treasure ?" 



We have a 



When found the travellers a trea- 
sure? 



12 PRONUNCIATION. 

We have said last section, that the English have two ways of asking 
a question ; one with the word did, as " Did three travellers find a 
treasure," and another without this auxiliary, as " Found three travellers 
a treasure." We also said that the first of these forms can not be ren- 
dered into French, there being no such auxiliary as did in the language, 
and consequently that the second of the two must always be translated. 

It is the practice also in French interrogations, to say " Three travel- 
lers found they so and so," " Three travellers said they so and so ;" in- 
stead of the English form, " Found three travellers so and so," " Said 
three travellers so and so." These last phrases, indeed, were they 
translated literally, would not be French. 

It will be also observed by the sentences given above, that in ques- 
tions, the pronoun and the verb must be connected with a line drawn be- 
twixt them. 

VI. . 

Ou alla-t-il ? Where did he go ? 

When in a question the verb ends in a vowel followed by the pronoun 
il, he, the letter t is inserted between. This is done in order to prevent 
the hiatus in pronunciation caused by two vowels coming together. It 
may be asked why is a ^ used for this purpose, in preference to any 
other consonant, when an n, an m, or a b, would answer the purpose, so 
far as euphony is concerned, quite as well. In order to answer this 
question, we must trace the language back to its source. We find in 
Latin, the parent language, that all the third persons of verbs end in a t, 
and we know that in French the t is only wanted when a question is 
asked in the third person. The phrase alla-t-il, did he go, is in Latin, 
word for word, ibat Me; in the Latin word we have a t. And although 
the t has been dropped in the affirmative form of the phrase in French, 
it makes its appearance again when wanted. The t moreover is still re- 
tained in the third person singular of some verbs, as il dit, he said, il 
avait, he had, and in cases where it has been lost, it appears again when 
a question is asked, as if to remind us that the language of Gaul is still 
the language of Caesar. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

NASAL N. 

When the letter n, preceded by any of the vowels, occurs before an- 
other consonant, it has what is termed a nasal sound, being partially 



PRONUNCIATION. 13 

enunciated through the nose. The existence of this sound in the pro- 
nunciation of French, has given rise to a notion among the English, that 
the French are very much addicted to speaking through their noses, but 
nothing could be more erroneous ; the truth of the matter is that, if this 
peculiarity abounds in any language more than another, it is in English 
that it predominates. In the English words, clung, flung, swung, rang, 
fang, swang, there is a nasal sound, and a very decided one too ; it only 
differs from the French in being more nasal ! A Frenchman has the 
greatest possible difficulty in acquiring a correct pronunciation of the 
words we have named, for the unique reason that they are a great deal 
more nasal than his own. The French nasal sound is exceedingly nice, 
and must be enunciated with the utmost softness ; it possesses more the 
characteristics of a simple aspiration, than of the unequivocal nasal of 
the English ng. The prevailing vice of beginners in French lies in the 
pronunciation of the nasal n ; they either for the most part sound it too 
harshly, or do not enunciate it at all — faults that it is the special object 
of these remarks to guard them against. 

It may also be observed that in English the nasal sound is variously 
modified, according to the vowel that precedes the ng ; thus the ung of 
the word stung, and the ang of the word swang, are totally different in 
their inflection. We are led to mention this because beginners very 
generally make no distinction between the French sound of in and en, 
while in reality the difference between these two combinations is as. 
marked as between their equivalents, ang and ing, in English. 

Keeping in view, that the difference between the English and French 
nasal sounds, is that the former partake more abundantly of the nasal 
character, and that the latter must be formed by a slight aspiration, the 
nasal sound being almost imperceptible, the following table will enable 
the learner to pronounce the nasal n in all cases correctly : 

an ) are pronounced like ang in the word clang, giving the a the sound 
en j of that letter in the English word 

father. 

in is pronounced like eng or ang in the word anger, as 

that word is usually pronounced, 
that is, as if it were written eng- 
ger. 

on " like ong in song. 

un " like ung in the word sung. 

When n is followed by another n, the nasal sound is lost ; double n has 
the same sound as in English, but when it comes before any of the 



14 



COMPOSITION. 



other consonants, it is always nasal. It will therefore be seen from the 
table we have given, that the word " intention," in the lesson, should be 
pronounced as if written eng-tang-see-ong, the English nasal sounds of 
these letters being of course considerably modified. 

The student must bear in mind that n is only nasal when followed by 
a consonant ; when followed by a vowel, n has the same sound as in 
English. 

The same remarks apply also to the letter m ; the pronunciation of 
this letter resembles in every particular that of n. 

COMPOSITION. 

The text of our present lesson, though it be short, illustrates a great 
many points in the structure of the French language. We have noticed 
a few of these under the head Construction, and have exhibited the 
others by a comparison of the English and the French sentences that 
occur in the passage under the head Phrases. The student may now 
put the knowledge the text has opened to him into practice, by a little 
exercise in composition. We give a few phrases and sentences in Eng- 
lish to be rendered into French. In order to translate these, the French 
words that have already appeared in the lesson, alone are necessary ; all 
that the student has to do, in order to go through this exercise correctly, 
is to bear in mind the structure of the sentences contained in the text. 
We shall give a translation of these phrases in the next lesson, so that 
the learner may verify the accuracy of his version. 



We have. 

We have a treasure. 

We have the wherewith. 

We have the wherewithal to make 
a repast. 

We have the wherewith to buy 
some meat. 

Have we ? 

Have we anything to eat ? 

Have we wherewithal to buy a re- 
past? 

Have we anything to do (to make) ? 

Are we hungry ? 

What have we 1 

Have we a meal ? 

Let one of us go. 

Let one of them go. 

Let him go and buy wherewithal to 
make a repast. 



Let one of us go and make a repast. 

Let the traveller go. 

They said, " We have a treasure." 

They said, " We are hungry." 

They said, " We have wherewithal 
to make a repast." 

They found something to eat. 

They found the road. 

We have the treasure. 

We have a meal. 

We are hungry. 

One of us. 

They said to us, " We are hungry." 

They found us in the way. 

We have their treasure. 

They found their treasure. 

They found their way. 

They told them to bring the treas- 
ure. 



COMPOSITION. 



15 



They told them to buy something to 
eat. 

They said to them, " We are hun- 
gry." 

He went to buy them wherewithal 
to make a repast. 

He went to make them a road. 

Did they say ? 

Did they say, " We have where- 
withal to make a repast ?" 

Did they say, " Let one of us go ?" 

Did they find their road ? 

Did they find a treasure ? 

Did they find wherewithal to make 
a repast ? 

Did he go 1 

Did he depart ? 



He departed. 

When did he depart? 

Why did he depart ? 

Who departed ? 

They found a treasure. 

When did they find a treasure 1 

Why did they find a treasure ! 

Where did they find a treasure % 

Where did they find us ? 

They said, " We are hungry." 

Did they say, " We are hungry V 

Who said, " We are hungry V 

He went. 

Did he go ? 

Who went ? 

When did he go ? 

Why did he go ? 



All these phrases the student will be able to render correctly into 
French, if he has paid attention to the construction of the text, and our 
observations upon it. This exercise will not only serve as an introduc- 
tion to writing French, but will tend also to impress the structure and 
idiomatical peculiarities of the sentences it contains on his memory, and 
thus a basis will be formed whereon the structure of the language may 
rest. The student will now have read, spoken, and written, a little 
French, and thus will have obtained a more extended notion of the 
language than if he had been turning over the pages of a grammar, with 
a master, for a twelvemonth. Each successive lesson will strengthen 
and augment the knowledge of the language the learner may now be 
supposed to have attained. 



LESSON SECOND 



READING. 

REPETITION. 

The following exercise in reading consists of a translation of the sen- 
tences given in the last lesson under the head Composition, as an exer- 
cise in writing French. The pronunciation and meaning of the words 
have already been given, so that the learner should be able to read and 
translate the whole without hesitation. 

Nous avons. Nous avons un tresor. Nous avons de 
quoi. Nous avons de quoi faire un repas. Nous avons de 
quoi acheter de la viande. Avons-nous ? Avons-nous de 
quoi manger? Avons-nous de quoi acheter pour un repas? 
Avons-nous de quoi faire ? Avons-nous f aim ? Q,u' avons- 
nous 1 Avons-nous un repas? Q,u'un de nous aiHe. 
Qu'un d'eux aille. Qu'il aille acheter de quoi faire un re- 
pas. Giu'un de nous aille faire un repas. Que le voya- 
geur aille. lis dirent nous avons un tresor. lis dirent 
" nous avons faim." lis dirent " nous avons de quoi faire 
un repas." lis trouverent de quoi manger. lis trouverent 
le chemin. Nous avons le tresor. Nous avons un repas. 
Nous avons faim. Un de nous. Us nous dirent " nous 



READING. 17 

avons faim." lis nous trouverent dans le cliemin. Nous 
avons leur tresor. lis trouverent leur tresor. lis trouve- 
rent leur chemin. lis leur dirent d'apporter le tresor. lis leur 
dirent d'acheter de quoi manger. lis leur dirent " nous avons 
faim." II alia leur acheter de quoi faire un repas. II alia 
leur faire un chemin. Dirent-ils 1 Dirent-ils " nous avons 
de quoi faire un repas V Dirent-ils "qu'un de nous aille V 
Trouverent-ils leur chemin ? Trouverent-ils un tresor 1 
Trouverent-ils de quoi faire un repas? Alla-t-il? Se detacha- 
t-il? II se-detacha. Quand se detacha-t-il? Pourquoi se 
detacha-t-il? Qui se detacha? lis trouverent un tresor. 
Quand trouverent-ils un tresor? Pourquoi trouverent-ils 
un tresor? Ou trouverent-ils un tresor! Ou nous trou- 
verent-ils ? lis dirent " nous avons faim." Dirent-ils " nous 
avons faim ?" Qui dit " nous avons faim ?" II alia. Alla- 
t-il ? Qui alia ? Quand alla-t-il ? Pourquoi alla-t-il 1 



Mais chemin faisant, il dit en lui-meme, il faut que j'em- 
poisonne la viande afin que mes deux camarades meurent 
en la mangeant, et que je jouisse du tresor moi seul. II 
executa son dessein et rait du poison dans ce qu'il avait 
apporte a manger. 



In order that the learner may read, translate, and understand the above, 
we shall, as in the case of the text given in the previous lesson, proceed 
to give first the pronunciation of the words, as also their euphonic con- 
nexion, and then their signification. 



Mais 


chemin 


faisant, 


il 


dit en 


lui-meme, 


il 


faut 


May 


she-min 


fe-zcro, 


eel 


dee-t w en 


luee* maim, 


eel 


fo 



* For the pronunciation of the letter u, where we have marked it with an accent 
thus (u), we refer the student to the head Pronunciation, page 26, of the present 
lesson. 

2 



18 VOCABULARY 

que j'empoisonne la viande, aim que mes deux camarades 
ki ^sh e?t-pwa-son la vee-arad, afin w ki inai day ka-ma-rad 

meurent en la mangeant, et que je jouisse du tresor moi 
mair-t ^, en la man-shan, ai ki ^^ j shoo-ees du trai-zor mwa 

seul. II executa son dessein et mit du poison dans ce 
sail. Eel exe-ku-ta son d-sin ai mee du pwa-zon dan , s 

qu'il avait apporte a manger, 
k-eel av-ai-t w ap-por-tai a man-shay. 

In order to read the above correctly, the learner must bear in mind 
what we said in the last lesson, under the head Pronunciation, about 
the nasal sound. We continue to mark the n with its accompanying 
vowel, when it is nasal, in italics, so that this most important matter may 
not be neglected. We can not too strongly impress upon the learner the 
necessity of his attention to the pronunciation we have given of the words 
in the text, and their euphonic connexion. The same words will be re- 
peated over and over again in the exercises that are to follow, so that on 
the amount of attention paid at the outset will depend the learner's ac- 
curacy throughout the lesson. 

TRANSLATION. 

Mais chemin faisant il dit en lui-meme, il 

But road making (going along) he said in himself. it 

faut que j'empoisonne la viande afin que mes deux 

is necessary that I may poison the meat to end (in order) that my two 

camarades meurent en la mangeant, et que je jouisse du 
companions may die in it eating, and that I may enjoy of the 

tresor moi seul. II executa son dessein et mit du poison 
treasure me alone. He executed his design and put of the poison 

dans ce qu'il avait apporte a manger, 
in what he had brought to to eat. 

The student can now read and pronounce the new portion of text ; the 
next thing is to turn the words acquired to a practical account. 

VOCABULARY. 

We again range the words of the text opposite their English equiva- 
lents, in order that the student may test his knowledge of them before 
entering upon the more essential exercises of the lesson. 



Mais . 
chemin 
faisant 

il 

dit . 
en 

lui-m6me 
faut . 
que . 
je . 
empoisonne 
la 

viande 
afin . 
mes . 
deux . 
camarades 
meurent 



PHRASES. 


but 
road 


mangeant 

et 


making 
he 


jouisse 
du . 


it 


tresor 


said 


moi 


in 


seul . 


himself 


executa 


is necessary 
that 


son 
dessein 


I 


mit 


poison 


du . 


the 
meat 


poison 
dans . 


in order 


ce que 


my 


avait . 


two 


apporte 


companions 


a 


may die 


manger 


PHR/ 


VSES. 



19 



eatmg 

and 

may enjoy 

of the 

treasure 

me 

alone 

executed 

his 

design 

put 

of the 

poison 

into 

what 

had 

brought 

to 

to eat 



The value of each word being known, the meanings of the sentences 
have next to be observed. As we have had occasion to remark under 
this head in the preceding lesson, it sometimes happens that combinations 
of words have acquired a meaning they do not exhibit when translated 
literally ; thus chemin faisant is, when translated into English, word for 
word, road making ; but the two words together are in French employed 
to signify going along, just as the phrases making way and going ahead 
are employed in English occasionally to express a similar notion. In con- 
sidering the phrases, therefore, the power of the words collectively must 
be regarded more than their individual meaning. 



Mais ..... 

Chemin faisant 

II dit en lui-meme 

II faut que j'empoisonne la viande 

Arm que ..... 

Mes deux camarades meurent . 

En la mangeant 

Et que ..... 

Je jouisse moi seul du tresor 

II executa son dessein 

Et mit du poison 

Dans ce que .... 

II avait apporte a manger . 



But 

Going along 

He said to himself 

I must poison the meat 

In order that 

My two companions may die 

In eating it 

And that 

I alone may enjoy the treasure 

He executed his design 

And put poison 

In what 

He had brought to eat. 



20 



CONVERSATION. 



CONVERSATION. 



As in the preceding lesson, we shall now proceed to a conversation on 
the subject involved in the text of the present lesson. It will be neces- 
sary for the student to bear in mind the words given as an introduction to 
the previous colloquial exercise, in addition to which the following will 
have to be acquired : — 

M j „, , , , T , ( giving the a's the sound they 

Madame, Madam, pronounced Madam ^ * ^ ^ ^ WOX(ipart 

Cela, that, " 

( giving the de the sound these 
< letters ha 
f word debt 



Des, of the, 



sla. 
de 



letters have in the English 



Ses, 



his 



Que dit un des voyageurs ? 

A qui dit-il cela ? 

Quand ? . 

Qui dit, il faut que j'empoisonne la 
viande ? 

Quand dit-il cela ? . . 

Pourquoi faut-il que le voyageur em- 
poisonne la viande ? 

Le voyageur dit-il, il faut que j'em- 
poisonne mes camarades 1 

Dit-il, il faut que je jouisse du tre- 
sor moi seul ? 

Avait-il trois camarades ? . 

Avait-il deux camarades 1 . 

Qui avait deux camarades ? 

Pourquoi faut-il que ses camarades 
meurent 1 

Qu'avait-il apporte a manger ? 

Avait-il apporte de la viande ? 

Avait-il le tresor 1 

Qui avait le tresor 1 . 

Qu'avait un des trois voyageurs 

Executa-t-il son dessein 1 . 

Qu'executa un des trois voyageurs ? 

Avait-il apporte de quoi manger ? 

Avait-il apporte le tresor ? 



( like se in the English word 
\ sent. 

II faut que j'empoisonne la viande. 

A lui-meme. 

Chemin faisant. 

Un des trois voyageurs. 

Chemin faisant. 

Ann que ses deux camarades meu- 
rent en la mange ant. 
Non, Madame. 

Oui, Madame. 

Non, Madame. 

Oui, Madame. 

Un des trois voyageurs. 

Ann qu'il jouisse seul du tresor. 

De la viande. 

Oui, Madame. 

Non, Madame. 

Ses deux camarades. 

Un dessein. 

Oui, Madame. 

II executa son dessein. 

Oui, Madame. 

Non, Madame. 



CONSTRUCTION. 21 

Dans quoi un des trois voyageurs Dans ce qu'il avait apporte a man- 

mit-il du poison ? ger. 

Avait-il apporte de la viande ? . Oui, Madame. 
Mit-il du poison dans la viande Oui, Madame. 

qu'il avait apporte a, manger ? 
Pourquoi ? Afin que ses deux camarades mou- 

russent en la mangeant, et qu'il 
jouisse seul du tresor. 
Quand mit-il du poison dans ce qu'il Chemin faisant. 

avait apporte a manger. 



CONSTRUCTION. 

Under this head we shall continue to bring into view the points of the 
text that illustrate the general structure of the language. These re- 
marks, as we stated in last lesson, are intended to guide and facilitate 
the learner in writing French. 



VII. 

Ilfaut que /empoisonne la viande. I must poison the meat. 

In our progress we shall occasionally fall in with a French word that 
has no corresponding word in the English language, and sometimes we 
shall in the same way have to deal with an English word that can not be 
rendered into French by any single word of that language ; this is the 
case with the English word must in the sentence before us. There is 
no single word in French that is precisely equivalent to the English 
must : and as this word must is very much employed in English, it be- 
comes to the learner a matter of some importance to know how a sen- 
tence in which must occurs, may be rendered correctly into French — a 
difficulty that our text by chance amply illustrates. We find in the sen- 
tence quoted above, that / must is represented in the French sentence by 
ilfaut que je, and it is by these four words arranged as we see them, that 
/ must is most usually rendered in French. 

The essential word of the equivalent for the English I must, is faut, 
and it will be seen from the translation of the text, that this word faut is 
equivalent to the two English words is necessary ; so that the French 
phrase ilfaut que je, conveying the idea of I must, is literally in English, 
it is necessary that I. 

The learner, therefore, in order to render / must in French, has to 
translate literally the phrase it is necessary that I, bearing in mind that 
the single word/a?^ is equivalent to the two English words is necessary. 



22 CONSTRUCTION. 

In the same way when you must, we must, he must, or they must, have to 
be rendered into French, a similar process is to be gone through, sub- 
stituting for the je the pronouns equivalent to you, we, he, and they ; thus 
in order to say, he must poison the meat, the phrase, it is necessary that he 
may poison the meat will have to be taken and translated literally \ the 
result will be, ilfaut quit empoisonne la viande, and so in all similar cases. 
We shall introduce some phrases of this kind into the exercise on Com- 
position, which Ave shall expect the learner, aided by the foregoing re- 
marks, to render correctly into French. 

It will no doubt occur to the observing student, that " it is necessary 
that he may poison the meat," is rather a clumsy way of saying " he must 
poison the meat," and most certainly such is the case. The French are 
as sensible of this defect in their language as an Englishman can be, 
and in order to remedy the evil, the words " il faut" are occasionally 
omitted in such phrases, the other part of the sentence being made to 
answer the purpose. An instance of this kind of abbreviation occurred in 
the text of our last lesson, where we have the phrase " one of us must go" 
rendered by " qu'un de nous aille ;" the words " il faut" it is necessary, 
being entirely suppressed. We stated in speaking of this sentence, Sec- 
tion III. of our last lesson, that the words " il faut" were frequently 
omitted in such expressions, and the fact of the contracted form being 
found in our text may be cited as a proof that the abbreviated form of 
such sentences is employed by the best writers in the language. We 
would suggest the learner to refer back to our previous observations on 
this construction, before reading the next section. 



VIII. 

Pourquoi faut-il que le voyageur Why must the traveller poison his 
empoisonne ses camarades ? companions 1 

The above phrase occurring in the exercise on Conversation, ex 
hibits to us the manner of dealing with the English must when the word 
occurs in an interrogation. Translated literally the phrase in question 
appears as follows : — 



Pourquoi 


faut-il 


que 


le 


voyageur 


empoisonne 


ses 


Why 


is .necessary it 


that 


the 


traveller 


may poison 


his 


camarades ? 














companions ? 















Here it will be observed that faut-il, literally signifies " is it neces- 



CONSTRUCTION. 23 

sary," just as we have seen the literal equivalent for il faut is " it is 
necessary." 

It is possible and usual to omit the words il faut in expressing a com- 
mand, but when a question is asked, the case is altered, for in an inter- 
rogation ilfaut is not so easily disposed of. It is perfectly good French 
to say, " Qu'un de nous aille," instead of " II faut qu'un de nous aille," but 
it is quite impossible to ask a question with such an assemblage of words 
as " Qu'un de nous aille." In order to say, " Must one of us go," the 
faut-il can not be dispensed with, the phrase entire is required, and must 
be written " Faut-il qu'un de nous aille ;" in such a case ilfaut becomes 
an indispensable adjunct. 

In the previous section we have noticed the exceedingly clumsy sub- 
stitute that exists in the French language for the English word must, 
and we have stated that the means adopted to remedy the evil is by 
omitting the words il faut, but we have seen that il faut can not always 
be so dispensed with, and is absolutely necessary in an interrogation. 
In order to say in French, " Must we eat V the phrase " Is it necessary 
that we may eat" would have to be employed ; decidedly too long and 
round about to answer the purpose : brevity is the soul of social con- 
verse, and in the intercourse of common life long heavy locutions like 
this are totally inadmissible. The expedient adapted to abridge such 
expressions is to suppress the pronoun and the que, employing only the 
indispensable faut-il with the simple form of the verb ; thus instead of 
saying " Faut-il que nous mangions," must we eat, the following construc- 
tion is usually employed : — 

Faut-il manger ? Must we eat ? 

It will be observed that this phrase, Faut-il manger, implies nothing 
more than, Is it necessary to eat ? and consequently may be employed to 
express, must I eat ? or must you eat ? as well as must we eat ? When, 
however, a question of this kind is to be put in the third person, no ab- 
breviation is practicable ; thus, must he go? must they die? will have to 
be rendered in French, faut-il qu'il aille? faut-il qu'ils meurent? We 
shall introduce into the exercise on Composition some English in- 
terrogative phrases containing the word must, to be rendered into French, 
in order that the learner may be habituated to this kind of construc- 
tion. 



24 CONSTRUCTION. 



IX. 



Le tresor .... The treasure. 

La viande .... The meat. 

In the first section of the remarks, under the head Construction, we 
have stated that all words in the French language are either masculine 
or feminine, and also that the is rendered by le before masculine words, 
and by la before feminine words. The learner must bear in mind, when 
he has to render the English article the into French, that he can not use 
the words la or le indiscriminately ; it very often happens that a word in 
French has one meaning when le is before it, and another when la is 
before it : thus le manche is in English, the broomstick, and la manche is 
the English Channel. Now if an Englishman were to say, speaking of 
having been to France, " I went across le manche" instead of saying la 
manche, a Frenchman would naturally suppose him to mean that he went 
to France on a broomstick : this would be an awkward mistake for an 
elderly lady to make. 

X. 

En la mangeant . . . In eating it. 

The learner, from what we have said in the last and previous sections, 
will now know how to proceed when he has the word the to render into 
French ; we have said that the is to be translated in the following man- 
ner : — 

Before a noun in the masculine gender, by le. 
Before a noun in the feminine gender, by la. 
Before a noun in the plural number, by les. 

But it must not be supposed from this, that the words, le, la, and les, 
always signify in French the ; it is true that the is rendered in French 
by le, la, les, but it is not true that le, la, and les, are always to be rendered 
in English by the, as we see from the sentence quoted above, in the 
text where the word la has the signification of the English word it. 

When the words le, la, and les, occur before a noun, they are equivalent 
to the English article the ; but when they occur before a verb, they are 
no longer articles but pronouns, and will have to be translated into Eng- 
lish in the following manner : 



CONSTRUCTION. 25 

le before a verb by him or it. 
la before a verb by her or it. 
les before a verb by them. 

In the sentence before us the word mangeant is a verb, and conse- 
quently the la before it must be rendered into English by the word it, 
since it refers to the word meat. 

This diversity of the meaning in the words le, la, and les, arising from 
their position in a sentence, requires to be particularly noted ; as other- 
wise they are likely to cause a great deal of trouble to the beginner, and 
are apt even to mislead persons who have attained some proficiency in 
the language. 

Properly speaking, the words le and la mean simply him and her, be- 
cause everything in French being either masculine or feminine, the 
word it has no existence in the language. 

In the phrase given above, in speaking of the meat, the French say, 
in eating, her, and not eating it. Just as the English say in speaking of 
a steamboat, " She sails well ;" so the French him or her all objects 
whatever. The fact that ajkobjects in nature are considered masculine 
or feminine may very likely give rise to this question in the mind of the 
learner : " Why is it that there are only two genders in French ?" In 
answering this question we may observe that most persons who have 
written French grammars, assert that it is impossible to teach theoretically 
the pronunciation of the language ; this may be perfectly true, so far as 
they are individually concerned, but instead of ascribing the impossibility 
to their own incompetency, they usually ascribe it to some impenetrable 
difficulty in the subject itself. In the same way when such a point is to 
be resolved as the question before us, we have nothing but mystery and 
perplexity. 

A very slight knowledge of the history of the language is sufficient to 
account for the use in French of two genders only : when the Franks 
overran Gaul, the inhabitants spoke Latin, and in order to understand the 
people they had conquered, they were obliged to learn their language ; 
but, as may be readily supposed, the conquerers did not trouble them- 
selves much about the niceties of the Latin terminations, and the distinc- 
tions of gender depending upon them, they were content with being able 
to make themselves understood, and beyond what was necessary to effect 
this, disregarded the subtilties of the Latin syntax ; they were obliged, 
however, to make a distinction between male and female, and gradually 
embraced under these two heads, all the words that had hitherto been 
considered as of the neuter gender ; thus it is simply from the circum- 



26 PRONUNCIATION. 

stance of the Franks being a more warlike, than a learned people, that 
two genders only exist in the language. 

In rendering the English word it into French, the learner must observe 
whether it relates to a masculine or a feminine noun ; for instance, if in 
the phrase, " They found it," the word it refers to the treasure, the 
phrase will have to be rendered in French — 

Us le trouverent. 

But if the word it refers to the meat, the phrase must be — 

lis la trouverent. 

It will be remembered that these pronouns are placed before, and not 
as in English, after the verb. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

THE CHARACTERISTIC. 

There exists in nearly all the modern languages, some particular 
sound that is rarely, if at all, made use of in English ; these sounds may- 
be considered by the English as characteristic of the languages to which 
they belong. Viewing in this way the French sounds as they stand in 
relation to those of the English language, the sound of the vowel u may 
be called the French characteristic. 

The nearest approximation to the French sound of the vowel u, made 
use of in English, with which we are acquainted, occurs in the word 
doing, when that word is quickly pronounced, as it usually is, especially 
when used with other words in a sentence ; in such a case the sound 
of the o in the word, blending with the i of the termination ing, produces 
exactly the sound given by the French to the vowel u. If then the 
learner pronounces rapidly the word doing two or three times over, and 
stops short at doi, he will pronounce the French word du almost as ac- 
curately as a native of Paris. He must bear in mind, however, that the 
sound of the o in do is not the French sound of u. It is only when the 
o of that word is blended with the i that follows it in the word doing that 
it resembles the French u. 

In English the vowel u has three sounds ; that in tube, another in tub, 
and a third in such words as rude. In French the vowel u has only one 
sound, which must always be given to it, except when it is associated 
with another vowel ; there are three words in the lesson in which this 



COMPOSITION. 27 

letter stands alone, these are the words du,lui, and executa. The learner 
has been shown how to pronounce du, and he must now endeavor to 
transfer the sound of the u in this word to those in the other two. By 
observing carefully the sound between the d and the ng of the word 
doing, when quickly pronounced, the learner may form such a concep- 
tion of the sound as will enable him to pronounce the French u in all 
cases correctly. We may repeat that he must carefully avoid the sound 
of the o in the word do, that being the sound given to the French u by 
persons who, having studied the language under a master, have been led 
to rely more upon their ear, than upon their comprehension. 

We are satisfied that, with a little attention to the direction we have 
given, the pronunciation of the u may be accurately acquired. At all 
events, such a pronunciation of the letter may be obtained as will ap- 
proach much nearer its exact sound than that given to it by the natives 
of some of the provinces of France itself. We have heard a well- 
educated native of Somersetshire, pronounce the English word much, as 
if it were written " mooch." In Lancashire, the word is pronounced as 
if written " meech."* In Killarney, the word would be, we think, pro- 
nounced as if written " mitch." In the same way, natives of France 
vary in their inflection of the letter u, and an Englishman pronouncing 
the u, according to the conception of the sound he may form from the 
illustration we have given of it, will approach infinitely nearer the sound 
a Parisian gives the letter than a native of Burgundy, Gascony, or in- 
deed of any other province in France remote from the capital. 



COMPOSITION. 

Translating from English into French is a valuable auxiliary in the 
study of the language, especially when the subjects given for translation 
are within the grasp of the learner, and are useful in themselves ; 
qualities which we think the phrases we have selected will be found to 
possess. An exercise of this kind will bring the peculiarities of struc- 
ture more distinctly to view, and aid in impressing them upon the mind. 
Our text has enabled us to illustrate some of the leading features of the 
language, with which the student will be greatly benefited by being- 
familiar. No better means of effecting this can be devised, than by 
translating their English equivalents into French. The learner ought 
not therefore to neglect this exercise. We shall give in the next lesson 
a translation in French of the following phrases, so that the learner may 
see whether he has himself rendered them correctly or not. 

* Conversations in the Lancashire Dialect, by Tim Bobbin. 



28 



COMPOSITION. 



I must poison the meat. 

I must poison my companions. 

I must enjoy the treasure. 

My companions must die. 

My two companions must die. 

He must enjoy the treasure alone. 

The travellers must die. 

They must die. 

He must poison the meat. 

He must poison the travellers. 

He must poison one of his com- 
panions. 

Must the traveller poison the meat 1 

Must one of the three travellers 
poison his companions ? 

Must the travellers die ? 

Must my two companions die ? 

Must one of the travellers poison 
the meat ? 

Must his two companions die ? 

We must eat. 

The meat must be eaten. 

We must eat the treasure. 

The travellers must be eaten. 

The poison must be taken. 

Poison must be bought. 

Meat must be bought. 

We must buy something to eat. 

Must we eat ? 

Must we eat the meat 1 

Must the treasure be eaten ? 

Must we eat the travellers % 

Must we eat the poison ? 

Must I eat my companions ? 

Must poison be bought ? 

Must meat be bought ? 

Must we buy something to eat 1 

I must poison the meat, in order 
that my two companions may die 
when they eat it. 

I must poison it. 

I must poison them. 

He put it in the meat. . (The poi- 
son.) 

He put it in the poison. (The 
meat.) 

He said it. 

It must be taken. (The poison.) 



It must be eaten. (The meat.) 

We must eat them. 

Must I poison it ? 

Must I poison them ? 

Did he put it in the meat ? 

Did he say it ? 

Must it be eaten 1 (The meat.) 

Must it be taken? (The poison.) 

Must we eat them ? 

Must it be bought 1 

He executed his design. 

W T ho executed a design ? 

Where did he execute his design ? 

When did he execute it ? 

Going along, one of the three travel- 
lers said, " I must poison my two 
companions ?" 

Going along, a traveller put poison 
in the meat, and said, " My two 
companions must die on eating 
it." 

Two travellers, on their journey 
found some meat on the road and 
said, " Gentlemen (Messieurs), 
we must eat it." 

He must eat his companions. 

Why must he eat his companions ? 

When must he eat his companions ? 

A Gentleman (un Monsieur) put 
meat in the poison. 

What did he put in the poison ? 

Why did he put meat in the poison 1 

When did he put it in ? 

I must poison the lady. (Madame.) 

When must I poison the lady ? 

Why must I poison her ? 

Whom must I poison ? 

We must eat some meat. 

Must we eat the meat ? 

Why must we eat it ? 

When must we eat it ? 

Must my two companions die ? 

The three travellers must die. 

Why must they die ? 

When must they die ? 

They must die on eating the meat 
that one of them brought to make 
a repast. 



COMPOSITION. 29 

When the learner has rendered these phrases, he will have become 
familiar with some of the chief difficulties he has to encounter. In the 
next lesson we shall have to speak of some other leading features in the 
construction of the language. 



LESSON THIRD. 

READING. 

REPETITION. 

Il faut que j'empoisonne la viande. II faut que j'em- 
poisonne mes camarades. II faut queje jouisse du tresor. 
II faut que mes camarades meurent. II faut que mes deux 
camarades meurent. II faut qu'il jouisse seul du tresor. 
II faut que les voyageurs meurent. II faut qu'ils meurent. 
II faut qu'il empoisonne la viande. II faut qu'il empoisonne 
les voyageurs. II faut qu'il empoisonne un de ses cama- 
rades. Faut-il que le voyageur empoisonne la viande ? 
Faut-il qu'un des trois voyageurs empoisonne ses cama- 
rades ? Faut-il que les voyageurs meurent 1 Faut-il que 
mes deux camarades meurent? Faut-il qu'un des voya- 
geurs empoisonne la viande ? Faut-il que ses deux cama- 
rades meurent? II faut manger. II faut manger la viande. 
II faut manger le tresor. II faut manger les voyageurs. 
II faut manger le poison. II faut acheter du poison. 11 
faut acheter de la viande. II faut acheter de quoi manger. 
Faut-il manger? Faut-il manger la viande? Faut-il 
manger le tresor ? Faut-il manger les voyageurs ? Faut- 
il manger le poison ? Faut-il manger mes camarades ? 
Faut-il acheter du poison 1 Faut-il acheter de la viande ? 
Faut-il acheter de quoi faire un repas ? 

II faut que j'empoisonne la viande afin que mes deux| 
camarades meurent en la mangeant. II faut que je F em- 
poisonne. II faut queje les empoisonne. II le mit dans! 
la viande II la mit dans le poison. II le dit. II faut 1< 



READING. 31 

manger II faut la manger. 11 faut les manger. Faut-il 
que je I'empoisonne ? Faut-il que je les empoisonne? 
Le mit-il dans la viande ? Le dit-il ? Faut-il la manger ? 
Faut-il le manger ? Faut-il les manger ? Faut-il l'ache- 
ter ? II executa son dessein. Qui executa un dessein ? 
Ou l'executa-t-il? Quand l'executa-t-il? Chemin faisant 
un des trois voyageurs dit, " II faut que j'empoisonne mes 
deux camarades." Chemin faisant un voyageur mit du 
poison dans la viande et dit, " II faut que mes deux cama- 
rades meurent en la mangeant." Chemin faisant deux 
voyageurs trouverent de la viande dans leur chemin et 
dirent, " Messieurs, il faut la manger." II faut manger ses 
camarades. Pourquoi faut-il manger ses camarades ? 
Quand faut-il manger ses camarades ? Un Monsieur mit 
de la viande dans le poison, due mit-il dans le poison ? 
Pourquoi mit-il de la viande dans le poison ? Quand la 
mit-il ? II faut que j'empoisonne Madame. Quand faut- 
il que j'empoisonne Madame? Pourquoi faut-il que je 
l'empoisonne ? Qui faut-il que j'empoisonne 1 II faut 
manger de la viande. Faut-il manger la viande? Pour- 
quoi faut-il la manger ? Quand faut-il la manger ? Faut- 
il que mes deux camarades meurent ? II faut que les trois 
voyageurs meurent? Pourquoi faut-il qu'ils meurent? 
Quand faut-il qu'ils meurent ? II faut qu'ils meurent 
en mangeant la viande qu'un d'eux a apportee pour faire 
un rep as. 



Mais les deux autres qui avaient concu un semblable 
dessein contre lui pendant son absence, l'assassinerent a 
son retour, et demeurerent les maitres du tresor. Apres 
1' avoir tue ils mangerent de la viande empoisonnee et 
moururent aussi tous deux. 



32 



TRANSLATION. 



In order that the learner may be able to read and pronounce the 
above, we shall have, as in the case of the two preceding sections of 
the text, to give first the pronunciation of the words, and then their 
meaning. 

Mais les deux autres qui avaient concu un semblable 
Mai le* dal-z ^ , o-ter kee av-ai kon-su. Mn sem-bla-bel w 

dessein contre lui pendant son absence, l'assassinerent a 
d-sin con-ter lu-ee pen-dan so-n ^, ab-sens, la-sa-see-ner-t ^_, a 

son retour, et demeurerent les maitres du tresor. Apres 
son re-toor, ai ^ d-mair-rer le mai-ter du trai-zor. A-pre 

l'avoir tue ils mangerent de la viande 
lav-war tue eel man-shair ^, d la vee-and 

moururent aussi tous deux, 
moor-ur-t , o-see too dai. 



empoisonnee 
en-pwa-zon-ne 



In reading the above the learner must bear in mind what we have said 
of the nasal sound in the first lesson, and what we have said of the vowel 
u in the second. We continue to represent the nasal sound by italics, 
and to place a short accent over the u when that letter has its pure 
sound. The nasal and the sound of the u are two very important fea- 
tures in French pronunciation, and habitual attention to what we have 
said of them will do more to perfect the learner in pronunciation than a 
twelvemonth with a master. 



TRANSLATION. 



Mais les deux autres qui avaient concu un semblable 
But the two others who had conceived a similar 

dessein contre lui pendant son absence, l'assassinerent a 
design against him during his absence, him assassinated at 

son retour, et demeurerent les maitres du tresor. Apres 
his return, and remained the masters of the treasure. ■■-- After t 

l'avoir tue ils mangerent de la viande empoisonnee, et 
him to have killed they ate of the meat poisoned, and 

moururent aussi tous deux. 

died also a)l two (both). 

* For the sound of the e we have accented thus e and thus e, see the article Pro- 
nunciation, page 39. 



PHRASES. 



33 



VOCABULARY. 

The text of the present lesson consists of forty words, twenty of 
which have already appeared in the preceding sections, we shall there- 
fore limit the vocabulary to the twenty new words, as the learner may 
be supposed to have got the others pretty well fixed on his memory 
already. 



Autre s 
avaient 


others 
had 


demeurerent 


( remained 
( lived 


concu 


conceived 


maitres 


masters 


semblable . 


similar 


apres 


after 


contre 


against 


avoir 


to have 


lui . 


him 


tue 


killed 


pendant 


during 


mangerent . 


ate 


absence 


absence 


empoisonnee 


poisoned 


assassinerent 


assassinated 


moururent . 


died 


retour 


return 


aussi 


also 






tous . 


all 



Of these twenty words, the greater part are mere modifications of 
those already seen : avaient, had, is the plural form of avait in the text 
of the preceding lesson ; mangerent, ate, is formed from the same root 
as manger, to eat ; moururent, died, is from the same root as meurent, die. 
The principle operating these changes in the form of a verb will soon 
have to engage the learner's attention. 

PHRASES. 



Mais les deux autres . 

Qui avaient congu un semblable 
dessein contre lui 

Pendant son absence . 

L'assassinerent .... 

A son retour .... 

Et demeurerent les maitres du 
tresor. 

Apres l'avoir tue 

lis mangerent de viande empoison- 
nee. 

Et moururent aussi tous deux. 



But the two others 

Who had conceived a similar de- 
sign against him 

During his absence 

Assassinated him 

On his return 

And remained masters of the treas- 
ure 

After having killed him 

They ate some of the poisoned 
meat 

And they also both died 



In comparing these sentences, the learner will observe that the Eng- 
lish say, poisoned meat, and that the French reverse the English order 
of these two words, and say meat poisoned. It will also be observed, 
that the equivalents of the English words all and two are used in French 

3 



34 



CONVERSATION. 



to signify both ; the reason of this is, that there is no single word equi- 
valent to both in the French language. 



CONVERSATION. 

All the words introduced into the following exercise have already ap- 
peared, either in the text of the present, or in the conversation of the 
preceding lessons. Their meaning and pronunciation have consequently 
been already given. 



Qu'avaient concu les deux autres 

voyageurs ? 
Qui avait concu un semblable des- 

sein? 
Quand 1 

Ou? 

Contre qui les deux autres voya- 
geurs avaient-ils concu un des- 
6ein? 

Qui avait le tresor ? . . 

Quand avaient-ils le tresor ? . 

Qu'avaient les deux autres voya- 
geurs pendant l'absence de 
leur camarade \ 

Qui les deux voyageurs assassin- 
erent-ils ? 

Ou l'assassinerent-ils 1 

Quand l'assassinerent-ils ? . 

Pourquoi l'assassinerent-ils ? 

Apres l'avoir tue, demeurerent-ils 
maitres du tresor 1 

Qui demeura maitre du tresor ? 

Les deux autres voyageurs mange- 
rent-ils leur camarade ? 

Apfes l'avoir tue, de quoi demeure- 
rent-ils les maitres ? 



Qu'avait apporte un des voyageurs ? 
Avait-il empoisonne la viande 1 

Pourquoi avait-il empoisonne la 

viande ? 
Qu'avaient a manger les maitres du 

tresor ? 
Qui avait de la viande a manger ? Les maitres du tresor. 



Un semblable dessein. 

Les deux autres voyageurs. 

Pendant l'absence de leur cama- 
rade. 
Dans le chemin. 
Contre leur camarade. 



Les deux autres voyageurs. 
Pendant l'absence de leur cama- 
rade. 
lis avaient le tresor. 



lis assassinerent leur camarade. 

Dans le chemin. 

A son retour. 

Arm d'avoir le tresor pour eux seul. 

Oui, Messieurs. 

Les deux autres voyageurs. 

Non, mais a son retour ils l'assas- 

sinerent. 
Ils demeurerent les maitres du 

tresor et de la viande que leur 

camarade avait apportee a 

manger. 
II avait apporte de la viande. 
Oui, Messieurs, il l'avait empoison- 

nee. 
Arm que ses camarades mourussent 

en la mangeant. 
Ils avaient de la viande 



CONSTRUCTION. 35 

Les maitres du tresor mangerent- Oui, ils la mangerent. 

ils la viande ? 
Pourquoi la mangerent-ils ? . .lis avaient faim. 

Qui avait faim ? . . . . Les trois voyageurs. 

Qui avait empoisonne la viande ? Un des trois voyageurs. 

Qui la mangea ? ... Les deux autres. 

Quand la mangerent-ils ? . . Apres avoir tue leur camarade. 

Que mangerent les deux autres Ils mangerent de la viande empoi- 

apres avoir tue leur camarade ? sonnee. 

Moururent-ils apres avoir mange la Oui, Messieurs, ils moururent. 

viande empoisonnee ? 

Les voyageurs moururent-ils tous Oui, ils moururent tous. 

les trois. 

Quand moururent les trois voya- L'un apres son retour, les deux 

geurs ? autres apres avoir mange de 

la viande empoisonnee. 

Ou moururent-ils ? Dans le chemin. 



CONSTRUCTION. 

XL 

Apres Tavoir tue , „ After having killed him. 
Ils Tassassinerent . . They assassinated him. 

Perhaps there is no difficulty more embarrassing to the learner, than 
that arising from the diversity of meaning peculiar to the little words 
le and la. We have already had occasion to remark, that le and la are 
sometimes to be rendered in English by the, and at other times by 
him, her, or it. Persons who have gone partially over a French gram- 
mar, are aware that le and la are articles, and so equivalent to the Eng- 
lish word the ; but not having pursued their studies far enough, are not 
acquainted with the pronomial signification of the words. They have in 
consequence associated le and la with the English word the, and the 
result of this association is, that they are confounded with the first page 
of any French author they attempt to translate. If any one, for instance, 
were to suppose that the V in the phrases we have quoted above from 
our text, signified the, he could not possibly make sense of them. In 
translating, the meaning of such long words as assassinerent may gener- 
ally be guessed at, but the little words like le and la completely upset 
the partially initiated. We have stated (§ X.), for the guidance of the 
learner in this matter, that when le or la occur before a verb, they must 
be rendered in English by him, her, or it; and when they occur before 
a noun, are to be rendered in English by the ; but it is only in this last 



36 CONSTRUCTION. 

case that le and la signify the. In the phrase, apres Vavoir tue, the word 
avoir is a verb ; and according to what we have said, the V must be 
rendered by one or other of the English pronouns him, her, or it, which 
of the three being judged from the context. We have quoted the two 
phrases, however, at the head of this article, not so much to illustrate 
the meanings of le and la, as to recall the attention of the learner to 
the manner he is to deal with the English words him, her, and it, when 
he has got to translate them into French. We have said elsewhere 
that there is no use for the word it in French. Everything is said 
to be him or her; thus the word viande being feminine, the English 
phrase they ate it, the pronoun it referring to the noun meat, would have 
to be rendered into French, they ate her; and in the same way in 
speaking of the treasure, the English phrase they ate it, would have to 
be rendered, they ate him, the word tresor being a masculine noun. It 
will be seen by the phrase, Us Vassassinerent, that the pronoun him is 
represented by the word le abridged into /', on account of the following 
vowel, according to the rule we gave §11. In the same way, they 
assassinated her would be in French, Us Vassassinerent, exactly the same 
as the other, the a of the la being likewise subject to elision. When, 
however, the verb begins with a consonant, the distinction between him 
and her would be as apparent in French as it is in English ; thus, they 
ate him would be Us le manger ent, but they ate her, Us la mangerent, the 
le and la in these cases not being subject to elision. The learner will 
also observe, that the English order of the words in such phrases is in- 
verted in their French equivalents ; for instead of saying, they assas- 
sinated him, we must say, they him assassinated, Us Vassassinerent. 
We shall introduce into the exercise under the head Composition, 
some English phrases, containing him, her, and it, to be turned into 
French, in order to familiarize the learner with the pronomial use of le 
and la. 



XII. 

Mais les deux autres qui avaient But the two others who had con 

concu un semblable dessein ceived a similar design against 

contre lui, Vassassinerent a son him, assassinated him on his 

retour. return. 

It will be observed from the above sentence, that besides the pronoun 
le, there is another French word equivalent to the English pronoun him t 
and that this word is lui. When in English the word him is the direct ob- 
ject of a transitive verb, such as killed, assassinated, ate, Am is then ren- 



CONSTRUCTION. 37 

dered by le : but when him or her is preceded by a preposition, then they 
must be rendered in French by lui. In our text, the word contre, against, 
is a preposition, and the word him following it, must in consequence be lui 
not le ; in the same way, of him, to him, by him, for him, must be rendered in 
Franch, de lui, a lui, and pour lui, and so in all cases where a preposition 
precedes, the word him has to be rendered by lui. This double transla- 
tion of the word him, is one of the difficulties to be encountered in writing 
French, but a little attention to the nature of the words will enable the 
learner to judge whether he should employ le or lui in translating him. 

XIII. 

II avait concu un semblable des- He had conceived a similar design, 
sein. 

The letter c is pronounced in French exactly as it is in English, that is, 
like s before e and t, and like k before a, o, and u. It happens, however, 
that in some French verbs c must have its hissing sound before the last- 
named vowels ; when such is the case, a little mark called a cedilla is 
placed under the c, as in the word con9U in the text ; without the cedilla, 
this word would have to be pronounced Aow-ku. In writing this word, 
the learner must take care therefore not to omit the cedilla. 



XIV. 

Apres l'avoir tue . . After having killed him. 

In this phrase, the word avoir is in the infinitive mood, and literally 
signifies to have. The English, after all their prepositions, except to, 
are in the practice of employing the present participle ending in ing ; but 
in French, all the prepositions except en govern the infinitive mood of 
the verb ; thus we must say in French, after to have, of to have, from to 
have, for to have, &c, and not as in English, after having, of having, 
from having, for having. This is a very marked peculiarity, and ex- 
hibits one of the most striking differences in the construction of the two 
languages ; it would be very bad English to say for to have, and it would 
be absolute nonsense to say in French, for having. In rendering, there- 
fore, such English phrases as — after having put poison in the meat, after 
having killed their companions, after having eaten the travellers, after 
having brought the poison — the learner must bear in mind that the French 
construction is, apres avoir mis du poison dans la viande, after to have 
put the' poison in the meat ; apres avoir tue leur camarade, after to have 



38 CONSTRUCTION. 

killed their companion ; apres avoir mange les voyageurs, after to have 
eaten the travellers ; apres avoir apporte le poison, after to have brought 
the poison ; and so in all similar cases. 

XV. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un tre- Three travellers found a treasure 
sor dans leur chemin, et dirent, on their way, and said, " We 

"Nous avons faim" are hungry" 

In the above sentence, the words nous avons faim are translated lit-, 
erally we have hunger, and this is the manner the English expression we 
are hungry must be rendered into French. In the same way, we were 
hungry would have to be rendered we had hunger. The English say, I 
have a headache, and I have a cold, and it would only be according to 
the analogy of their own language to say, I have hunger also ; however, 
since it happens that this is not the case, the learner must bear in mind 
the difference in this respect between the construction of his own and the 
French language. The English phrases, he was hungry, and they were 
hungry, will have to be rendered, 

II avait faim . . He had hunger, 
lis avaient faim . . They had hunger. 



XVI. 

lis moururent tous deux . . They both died. 

We have already said, chemin fais ant, that the English word both has 
no single equivalent in French, so that the notion of both has to be ren- 
dered in the latter language by a paraphrase. The word is most usually 
rendered by the phrase, tous les deux, all the two, but occasionally the 
article les is dropped, and the phrase assumes the form, tous deux, all 
two, as we have it in our text. It is very likely that they died all two, 
may sound somewhat odd in the ears of an Englishman, but it is only 
because he has not been used to it. The phrase, they died all two, is 
just as logical as they died all three, although the first appears very bad 
English, and the second very good. We mention this because the learner 
generally, when he meets with a construction that he is not familiar with, 
is very apt to suppose that there is some huge mystery at the bottom of 
it, when in reality it exists in his own language, and is as simple in itself 
as the construction of any other assemblage of words ; a little judgment 
exercised in the study of a language will dissipate a vast number of ap- 
parent difficulties of this nature. The learner has to bear in mind 



PRONUNCIATION. 39 

that the word both is to be rendered by all two, tous deux in French, or 
when a greater degree of exactitude is wanted, by all the two, tous les 
deux. 

In English, the word both may be put either before or after the verb ; 
it would be as correct to say, they both died, as to say, they died both. 
In French, however, the adverb can not be moved about in this way ; 
there is only one way of arranging the words in a phrase like this, that 
is by placing the adverb tous deux after the verb, as in the text. 



PRONUNCIATION. 

ACCENTED LETTERS. 

The vowel e has altogether in French four sounds : in order to show 
when it should be pronounced in one and when in another manner, little 
marks called accents are employed. The following table exhibits the 
various sounds of the e, together with the manner in which they are dis- 
tinguished one from another. 

e with an acute accent thus e, is pronounced like a in the English 

word mate. 

e with a grave accent thus e, is pronounced like e in the English 

word best. 

e with a circumflex accent thus e, is pronounced like e, but a little longer. 

e without an accent is called the e mute, and is generally silent ; when 
pronounced it has the sound of ea in the English word earth. 

From this table the learner will observe that when he meets with an e 
having an acute accent upon it thus e, he must pronounce it like the a in 
the English words make, cake, bake ; and when he meets with an e having 
the grave accent e, or the circumflex accent thus e, he must pronounce it 
like e in the English words press, dress, mess. So far as the accented 
e's are concerned there is no difficulty, the e and the e may be consid- 
ered as two distinct letters of the French alphabet, each having its own 
sound and characteristic properties, while the e may be called a long e, 
and considered as such. We should now advise the learner to go over 
the sections of the text, and pronounce the accented e's according to the 
foregoing directions, without paying attention to the equivalents we have 
given of them in our verbal pronunciation ; in this manner the habit will 
be acquired of pronouncing the accented e correctly. We would also 



40 PRONUNCIATION. 

here strongly impress upon the observation of the learner the necessity 
of attention ; he has been accustomed from his infancy to associate 
the letter e with a set of sounds, many of which are totally different from 
the French sounds of the letter, he must therefore be watchful lest his 
inherent notions mislead him in the pronunciation of the French e. The 
accented e's in French have only the sounds we have described ; these 
must always be given them, otherwise the word in which they occur 
will be rendered unintelligible, and the sense or meaning of the speaker, 
consequently, totally obscured. 

The e mute, as its name implies, so far as pronunciation is concerned, 
is a nonentity, it is a mere orthographic sign, not an absolute letter. 
There are some cases, however, in which it may be pronounced. The 
phrase it se detacha, occurring in our text, may be pronounced eels detacha, 
suppressing entirely the unaccented e, or the little word se may be pro- 
nounced distinctly, giving the e the shut sound of ea of the English word 
earth, as already stated. The pronunciation of the e mute is therefore 
quite arbitrary, depending entirely upon the taste or the style of the 
speaker. This unaccented e has given rise to much learned disquisition 
among writers of French grammars ; they have contrived to discover in 
this simple matter the most insuperable difficulties, and the greatest pos- 
sible amount of doubt and dubity. These perplexities are not said to 
consist in explaining the sound itself, that we have given is sufficiently 
precise, but in knowing when to pronounce the letter, and when to leave 
it entirely silent : one Frenchman,* who has written two very respecta- 
ble duodecimo volumes to enlighten the English on this knotty point, after 
quoting a dozen pages of illustrations, says, " All these examples show 
rather than solve the difficulty ; but it is impossible to give certain and 
invariable rules by which foreigners may be able to make so many nice 
distinctions, which depend greatly on the judgment of the speaker or 
reader, and are not always (qi/. never) attended to by the natives them- 
selves." Had this writer limited his treatise to this one passage, we 
conceive he would have acted wisely, for in this single sentence he has 
said all that need be said on the subject. The pronunciation of the e 
mute is admissable in an elevated style, but its pronunciation in collo- 
quial intercourse would only be tolerated when the meaning of a word or 
the sense of a sentence would be obscured by its omission, or when great 
clearness of expression is required. In every instance where the unac- 
cented e occurs in our text, it may be left entirely silent, and on the other 
hand, it might be in most, cases slightly enunciated. The unaccented e 
is rarely pronounced in ordinary conversation, and very rarely silent in a 

* Duver^ers 5 Treatise on the French Pronunciation, Part I. 



COMPOSITION. 



41 



solemn discourse ; it might be pronounced at the Palais du Luxembourg, 
but would be silent within the precincts of the Tuileries. 

The accents, besides being employed to point out the sounds of the c, 
are occasionally used to distinguish some words from certain other words 
resembling them in orthography, but differing materially in meaning ; 
thus the letter a in French without an accent is a verb, and is equivalent 
to the English word has, but a with a grave accent thus a, is a preposi- 
tion, and signifies in English to or at; and again, the adverb ou, where, 
has a grave accent to distinguish it from the conjunction on, or. The 
accents in these cases do not affect in any way the pronunciation of the 
letter over which they are placed, they are orthographic signs only.* 
The circumflex accent is used to mark the omission of an s. The word 
maitre in the text is derived from the Latin word maiister, or according to 
the modern Latin spelling, magister, the Romans writing an s, though 
very probably they did not pronounce it. The older French writers 
wrote the word maistre, whence the English have obtained their word 
master, where the s is retained and the i dropped. The circumflex ac- 
cent requires the voice to rest slightly on the letter whereon it is placed, 
in order to compensate for the omission of the s, as in the case of the h 
already described. 

We have now explained the use and application of the accents in 
French, they only affect the pronunciation, in so far as the e is concerned ; 
we shall henceforth, in giving the pronunciation of the French words, 
leave the accented e's to speak for themselves, as the learner may now 
be fairly supposed to know how to pronounce them. 



COMPOSITION, 



He had. 

He had a treasure. 

Had he a treasure ? 

Who had a treasure 1 

They had. 

What had they ? 

Thev had a companion. 

Hadthey the meat ? 

They had the meat, two treasures, 

and three intentions. 
Had they three designs ? 



No, but they had three companions. 

Who had three companions ? 

The traveller who had the two in- 
tentions. 

Who had the treasure ? 

The two other travellers. 

When they had the treasure, had 
they also their companion 1 

No, they had poisoned him. 

After the two others had poisoned 
their companion, what had they ? 



* And it may be useful to observe that the grave accent only is used in these cases, 
the acute accent is never employed merely to distinguish words. 



42 



COMPOSITION. 



They had the treasure and also the 
meat, but their companion had 
poisoned it. 

When had their companion poisoned 
the meat ? 

He had poisoned the meat during 
the absence of his companions. 

Who had conceived a design ? 

One of the travellers. 

Against whom had he conceived a 
design ? 

Against the masters of the treasure. 

After having conceived his design, 
did he execute it ? 

Yes, he executed his design. 

The masters of the treasure, had 
they also conceived a design ? 

Yes, they had conceived a design 
against the treasure, and two 
others against their companions. 

Who was hungry ? 

One of the travellers. 

Had he anything to eat ? 

Were his two companions hungry ? 

Yes, but they had something to eat. 

What had the two travellers to eat? 

They had the treasure, the poisoned 
meat, and a companion to eat ? 

Where did the travellers live ? 

They lived at Paris. 

When did the masters of the treas- 
ure live at Paris ? 

They lived at Paris after they had 
killed their companion. 

Whom did the three travellers as- 
sassinate ? 

They assassinated two travellers 
and their companion. 

W r hy did they assassinate their com- 
panion ? 

In order to have his treasure. 

After having killed their companion, 
whom did they assassinate ? 

They assassinated the two other 
travellers. 

Did they assassinate their com- 
panion after having killed the 
travellers ? 



No, they assassinated the travellers 
after having killed their com- 
panion. 

Where did they assassinate their 
companion. 

They assassinated him on the road. 

Whom did they assassinate on the 
road? 

They assassinated the masters of 
the treasure, the three travellers, 
and also their two companions. 

They ate. 

What did they eat ? 

They ate the treasure. 

After having eaten the treasure, 
what did they eat ? 

They ate the meat. 

After having eaten that, what did 
they eat ? 

They ate their companion. 

After having eaten the treasure, the 
meat and their companion, what 
did they eat ? 

They ate two other companions. 

W T hy did they eat their companions ? 

They were hungry. 

After having eaten all their com- 
panions, what did they eat ? 

They ate each other (se). 

They died. 

Did all the three travellers die ? 

Yes, all the travellers died. 

Did the masters of the treasure die 
also? 

Yes, they both died. 

When did the two travellers die ? 

After having killed and eaten their 
companion. 

Where did the travellers die ? 

Two died at Paris, the other three 
died on the road. 

During the absence of their com- 
rade, the travellers ate each other. 

After having killed some and poi- 
soned others, the two travellers 
remained masters of the meat, 
but after having eaten it, they 
both died. 



COMPOSITION. 



43 



The masters of the treasure assas- 
sinated and ate their companion, 
but they both died also. 

During the absence of their com- 
panion, the two others had eaten 
the treasure. 

While the two travellers remained 
masters of the treasure, they had 
wherewithal to eat ; but after 
having killed their companion, 
they both died of hunger. 

One of the travellers, during the 
absence of the other two, had 



conceived the design of eating 
the treasure, but the two others, 
on their return assassinated him. 

After having killed their companion, 
the two others ate some poisoned 
meat as a refreshment. 

The poison killed one of the trav- 
ellers, the treasure killed all 
three. 

After having eaten the treasure, 
the meat, and their companion, 
the three travellers died of hun- 
ger. 



LESSON FOURTH. 



READING. 

REPETITION. 



Il avait. II avail un tresor. Avait-il un tresor ? Qui 
avait un tresor ? Ils avaient. Qu'avaient ils ? lis avaient 
un camarade. Avaient-ils la viande ? Ils avaient la 
viande, deux tresors, et trois intentions. Avaient-ils trois 
desseins ? Non, mais ils avaient trois camarades. Qui 
avait trois camarades? Le vojageur qui avait les deux 
intentions. Qui avait le tresor? Les deux autres voya- 
geurs. Quand ils avaient le tresor avaient-ils aussi leur 
camarade ? Non, ils Favaient empoisonne. Apres que 
les deux autres eurent empoisonne leur camarade, qu'a- 
vaient-ils ? Ils avaient le tresor et la viande, mais leur 
camarade l'avait empoisonnee. Quand, leur camarade 
avait-il empoisonne la viande? II arait empoisonne 
la viande pendant l'absence de ses camarades. Qui 
avait concu un dessein ? Un des vovageurs. Contre qui 
avait-il concu un dessein ? Contres les maitres du tre- 
sor. Apres avoir concu son dessein Fexecuta-t-il ? Oui, 
il executa son dessein. Les maitres du tresor avaient-ils 
aussi concu un dessein? Oui, ils avaient concu un dessein 
contre le tresor et deux autres contre leurs camarades. 
Qui avait faim ? Un des voyageurs. Avait-il de quoi 



READING. 45 

manger? Ses deux camarades avaient-ils faim? Oui, mais 
ils avaient de quoi manger. Qu'avaient les deux vojageurs 
a manger ? Ils avaient a manger le tresor, de la viande 
empoisonnee, et un camarade. Ou demeurerent les trois 
vojageurs? Ils demeurerent a Paris. Quand les maitres 
du tresor demeurerent-ils a Paris ? Ils demeurerent a Paris 
apres avoir tue leur camarade. Qui, les trois vovageurs 
assassinerent-ils ? Ils assassinerent deux vojageurs et leur 
camarade. Pourquoi assassinerent-ils leur camarade? Aim 
d'avoir son tresor. Apres avoir tue leur camarade qui 
assassinerent-ils ? Ils assassinerent deux autres vojageurs. 
Assassinerent-ils leur camarade apres avoir tue les voja- 
geurs ? Non, ils assassinerent les vojageurs apres avoir 
tue leur camarade. Ou assassinerent-ils leur camarade ? 
Ils l'assassinerent dans le chemin. Qui assassinerent-ils 
dans le chemin ? lis assassinerent les maitres du tresor, 
les trois vojageurs, et aussi leurs deux camarades. 

Ils mangerent. Que mangerent-ils ? Ils mangerent le 
tresor. Apres avoir mange le tresor, que mangerent-ils ? 
Ils mangerent la viande. Apres avoir mange cela, que 
mangerent-ils ? Ils mangerent leur camarade. Apres 
avoir mange le tresor, la viande, et leur camarade, que 
mangerent-ils? Ils mangerent deux autres camarades. 
Pourquoi mangerent-ils leurs camarades ? Ils avaient 
faim. Apres avoir mange tous leurs camarades, que man- 
gerent-ils ? Ils se mangerent. Ils moururent. Les voja- 
geurs moururent-ils tous les trois 1 Oui, tous les vojageurs 
moururent. Les maitres du tresor moururent-ils aussi? 
Oui, ils moururent tous les deux. Quand les deux voja- 
geurs moururent-ils ? Apres avoir tue et mange leur cama- 
rade. Ou moururent les vojageurs ? Deux moururent a 
Paris, les trois autres dans le chemin. Pendant l'absence 
de leur camarade, les vojageurs se mangerent les uns les 
autres. Apres avoir tue les uns et empoisonne les autres, 



46 READING. 

les voyageurs demeurerent mattres de la viande, mais apres 
1'avoir mange ils moururent tous. Les maitres du tresor 
assassinerent et mangerent leur camarade, mais tous les 
deux moururent aussi. Pendant Fabsence de leur cama- 
rade les deux autres avaient mange le tresor. Pendant 
que les deux voyageurs demeurerent maitres du tresor ils 
avaient de quoi manger, mais apres avoir tue leur cama- 
rade ils moururent de faim tous les deux. Un des voyageurs 
pendant l'absence des deux autres avait concu le dessein 
de manger le tresor, mais les deux autres a leur re tour l'as- 
sassinerent. Apres avoir tue leur camarade, les deux au- 
tres mangerent pour repas de la viande empoisonnee. Le 
poison avait tue un des voyageurs, le tresor avait tue les 
trois. Apres avoir mange le tresor, la viande, et leur 
camarade, les trois voyageurs moururent de faim. 



Un philosophe passant par cet endroit-la, dit, voila, quel 
est le monde ! Voyez de quelle maniere il a traite ces 
trois personnes. Malheur a celui qui lui demande des 
richesses. 



In order that the learner may read the above, we shall, as in the case 
of the former portions of the text, proceed to give the pronunciation of 
the present section. 

Un philosophe passant par cet endroit-la, dit, voila, 
Un fee-lo-sof pas-cwi par set erc-drwa la, dee wa-la, 

quel est le monde ! Voyez de quelle maniere il a traite 
kel ai ^ 1 rnond ! Voyai ^ d kel man-yer eel a trai-te 

ces trois personnes. Malheur a, celui qui lui demande des 
se trwa per-son. Mal-eur* a^s-luee kee hiee, d-mand de 

richesses. 
ree-shes. 

That the above may be read correctly, the learner must continue to 
bear in mind what has been said in the first lesson, of the nasal sound, 

* For the pronunciation of the eu, see article Pronunciation, page 53. 



VOCABULARY. 



47 



which we continue to give in italics, as also what was said of the vowel 
u in the second lesson, and finally, the pronunciation of the accented e's 
given in the third lesson. We would again urge the necessity of the 
learner sustaining his attention on these particular points ; this is essen- 
tial to an exact comprehension of the pronunciation of the words of the 
text, and consequently, on this depends the chief advantage the learner 
can hope to obtain from our lessons. The words of our text are not nu- 
merous, but they will serve as a key to the entire system of French pro- 
nunciation. The principles we shall lay down for the guidance of the 
learner in their pronunciation, if well fixed upon his memory, will enable 
him to pronounce, with a very few exceptions, every word in the lan- 
guage correctly. 

TRANSLATION. 



Un philosophe 


passant par cet endroit-la, dit, voila, 


quel 


A philosopher 


passing hy that place there, said, See there, 


what 


est le monde ! 


Voyez de quelle maniere il a traite 


ces 


is the world ! 


See of what manner it has treated 


these 


trois personnes. 


Malheur a celui qui lui demande 


des 


three persons. 


Wo to him who at it asks 


of the 


richesses. 






riches. 







VOCABULARY. 

The present portion of text consists of thirty-one words, ten of which 
have already been seen ; and the five words, philosophe, maniere, pas- 
sant, personnes, and richesses, are nearly the same in form with their 
English equivalents. This vocabulary will therefore only consist of 
seventeen words. 

has 

treated 
< these 
( those 
{ wo 

I misfortune 
Che 
( him 
( ask 
J asks 
j want 
(^ wants 
of the 



Par . 


by 


cet 


< this 
I that 


endroit . 


place 


la 


there 


voila, 


(see there 
\ behold 


quelle > 
quel > 


what 


est 


is 


le monde 


the world 


voyez . 


< see 



traite 



ces 



malheur 
celui 

demande 
des 



48 



CONVERSATION. 



CONVERSATION. 

The following new words will be introduced into this exercise : 



Mesdames, 
Ce, . 
Pourquoi, 
Parce que, 

Combien, 



Ladies, pronounced mcdam. 



it or that, 
why, 
because, 
how much, ) 



s. 

poor-kwa. 
pars-ky. 

kom-be~EN. 



how many, 

Quelquefois, . . sometimes, „ kelk-fwa. 

Au, . . . to the, or at the ,, o. 

Etait, . . . was, „ etai. 

In the reading exercise we have given e as the pronunciation of the 
word est, is. Above, we see that the little word ce, it, when denuded 
of its e mute has the sound of s ; the learner will observe from this, that 
est-ce, is it, should be pronounced es, and for the same reasons that 
qu'est-ce ? what is it? should be pronounced kes. It may not be out of 
place to notice here a peculiar manner of putting in French the question, 
What is that ? The learner is already aware that " what is that" should 
be rendered by qu'est cela ? but though " qu'est cela" is very commonly 
used, the form most employed is qu'est-ce que c'est que cela ? This phrase 
translated literally gives in English, What is it that that is that that 1 
Such a multitude of thats looks like a very prosy way of saying, What is 
that ? If, however, the learner has borne in mind the pronunciation we 
have given of the individual words composing qu'est-ce que c'est que cela ? 
he will find the whole amount to kesk-sek-sla ; the French interrogation 
in reality not requiring more time in its enunciation than the English 
what is that. 

Qu'est-ce que dit un philosophe ? Le philosophe dit, " Voila, quel est 

le monde! Voyez de quelle 
maniere il a traite ces trois 
personnes." 
Dans le chemin. 

En passant a l'endroit ou moururent 
les trois voyageurs. 
Est-ce que le philosophe dit, " Voila, Non, mesdames. 

les trois voyageurs ?" 
Est-ce qu'il dit, " Voila, ces trois Non, mesdames, mais il dit," Voila, 



Ou dit-il cela 1 
Quand le dit-il ? 



personnes 



?" 



de quelle maniere le monde a 
traite ces trois personnes." 
Qui le monde a-t-il traite ? . . Trois personnes. 
Qui est-ce qui a traite trois per- Le monde. 
sonnes ? 



CONVERSATION. 



49 



Comment le monde a-t-il traite trois D'une maniere. 



personnes f 
Combien de personnes le monde 

a-t-il traite ? 
Quelles trois personnes le monde 

a-t-il traite d'une maniere 1 
Quels trois voyageurs ? 

Pourquoi le monde a-t-il traite ces 

trois voyageurs d'une maniere 1 
Qu'est-ce que e'est qu'un malheur 

d'apres le philosophe ? 
Qui est-ce qui dit, malheur a celui 

qui demande des richesses au 

monde ? 
Pourquoi dit-il cela ? . 
Le philosophe dit-il malheur a celui 

qui a des richesses ? 
Le philosophe dit-il que e'est im 

malheur d'avoir des richesses ? 
Pourquoi est-ce un malheur que de 

demander des richesses ? 
Est-ce que le philosophe demande 

des richesses au monde ? 
Comment est-ce un malheur ? 



Est-ce que les voyageurs deman- 
derent des richesses au monde ? 

Etait-ce a fin d'avoir ses richesses 
qu'ils assassinerent leur cama- 
rade ? 

Est-ce que toutes les personnes qui 
demandent des richesses au 
monde meurent ? 



De quelle maniere le monde a-t-il 

traite les trois voyageurs ? 
Qui est-ce qui dit cela ? 
A qui dit-il cela ? 
Etait-il a Paris quand il dit cela ? 



II a traite trois personnes. 
Les trois voyageurs. 

Les voyageurs qui trouverent un 
tresor dans leur chemin. 

Parce qu'ils lui avaient demande 
des richesses. 

C'est un malheur de demander des 
richesses au monde. 

Un philosophe. 



Parce qu'il etait philosophe. 
Non, mesdames. 

Non, mais il dit que c'est un malheur 

de les demander au monde. 
Parceque le philosophe le dit. 

Non, mesdames, il dit que c'est un 
malheur de les demander. 

Voyez les trois voyageurs ils mou- 
rurent apres avoir demande des 
richesses. 

Non, mais afin de les avoir ils as- 
sassinerent leur camarade. 

Oui, mesdames, et leur camarade arm 
d'avoir le tresor a lui seul mit du 
poison dans la viande qu'il avait 
apportee pour manger. 

Non, mesdames, mais quand ils as- 
sassinent leur camarades afin 
d'avoir leurs richesses, ils meu- 
rent quelquefois, voyez de 
quelle maniere le monde a 
traite les trois voyageurs. 

II les a traite de maniere qu'ils mou- 
rurent tous les trois. 

Un philosophe. 

A tout le monde. 

Non, il etait a l'endroit ou moura- 
rent les voyageurs. 



50 CONSTRUCTION. 

CONSTRUCTION. 

XVII. 

Malheur a celui qui lui demande de Wo to him who asks it for riches, 
richesses. 

We have stated elsewhere, that the English pronouns him, her, and it, 
when the direct objects of a transitive verb, are rendered in French by 
le or la placed before the verb by which they are governed ; as 

They ate him ... lis le mangerent. 
They ate her ... lis la mangerent. 

We have also stated that when the pronouns him, her, and it, are in 
English preceded by to, at, or any other preposition, they are to be ren- 
dered in French by lui, as 

The travellers had conceived a de- Les voyageurs avaient concu un 

sign against him. dessein contre lui. 

He said into himself ... II dit en lui-meme. 

In the sentence we have quoted at the head of this article, there is an 
apparent exception to the latter rule, since we have the word him ren- 
dered by lui, even although no preposition precedes the him in the Eng- 
lish sentence. This arises from the mutability of the English language : 
it would be quite as good English to say, in speaking of the world, 
" Miserable is he who asks at it for riches," as to say, " Miserable is he 
who asks it for riches," only the English usually dispense with the prep- 
osition at in such cases, and hence the apparent departure from the 
rule we have given. Although the English can in this way say, " Who 
asks it," or, " Who asks at it," indiscriminately, the French language is 
not susceptible of any mutable property of this kind ; the preposition a, 
to or at, must, under such circumstances, invariably follow the verb de- 
mander, to ask ; we can not say in French, " Who asks it," the genius 
of the language requires us to say, " Who asks at it." 

But we may be told that there is no a after the verb demande in the 
sentence we have quoted from the text: true, there is none in appearance; 
it will be observed, how r ever, that lui precedes the verb demande : in 
such a position, lui has the signification of a lui in any other, — lui before 
a verb is precisely equivalent to a lui placed after one. And we have 
the sentence who asks it, or who asks at it, rendered by qui lui demande, 
instead of qui demande a lui, because it is more consonant with the struc- 



CONSTRUCTION. 51 

ture of the language to express at it by placing lui before the verb, than 
by placing a lui after it. 

It is in matters of this kind that the judgment and observation of the 
learner might be advantageously exercised ; the difficulties of the lan- 
guage are often hid in minute verbal modifications. The property that 
little words like lui possess of assuming a variety of meanings from a 
change of position, is also a source of great embarrassment to beginners. 
A little exertion of the perceptive faculties will do more for the learner 
in overcoming difficulties of this nature than the explanations of all the 
masters in the United Kingdom, who, nine cases in ten, are totally ig- 
norant of the animus of siich detail, and consequently are incapable of 
supplying the place of intellect to the student. 

The words of the English language are not in general susceptible of a 
change of meaning from the change of position ; but in French a word 
has often a very different signification in one set of words from that it 
has in another set. For instance, in the sentence — 

" Un d'eux se detacha et alia dans " One of them departed and went 
l'intention de leur apporter de away in the intention of bring- 

quoi faire un repas," ing to them wherewithal to 

make a meal," 

the word leur occurs before a verb, and in that position is to be rendered 
in English by to them ; but in the following sentence — 

" Trois voyageurs trouverent un " Three travellers found a treasure 
tresor dans leur chemin," on their way," 

the word leur occurs before the noun chemin, and in that position has no 
longer the meaning of to them, but must be rendered in English by their. 
In beginning to read French, attention to points like these is of great 
importance : the exact value of the little words being known, the sense 
of a passage will always be clear ; but until this is the case, the meaning 
of an author will ever appear obscure. - 

The sentence we have cited from our text illustrates two points to be 
noticed in writing French : first, that the verb demand.tr, to ash, requires 
the preposition a, to or at, after it ; and secondly, that to or at, him, her, 
or it, are rendered in French by placing the single word lui before a 
Terb. 

In the same sentence we observe the word lui, him, rendered by celui 
after a preposition as well as lui ; the little particle ce prefixed to the lui, 
is equivalent to the English word that ; celui, therefore, when reduced to 
its primeval elements, is equivalent to that him, the ce being obviously, in 



52 CONSTRUCTION. 

this instance, appended to the lui merely for the sake of emphasis or 
euphony ; but be this as it may, celui must always be used under similar 
circumstances. 

XVIII. 

Un philosophe passant par cet en- A philosopher passing by that place. 
droit-la. 

We have already spoken fully of the various significations of the little 
words le and la : we have said, that when le or la occur before a noun, 
they are to be rendered in English by the ; as, 

Nous avons le tresor . ., . We have the treasure. 
Nous avons la viande . . . We have the meat. 

But when they occur before a verb, le and la are pronouns, and have to 
be rendered in English by him, her, or it. 

lis la mangerent .... They ate her or it. 
lis le mangerent .... They ate him or it. 

It will be observed from* the phrase we have quoted above from the 
text, that the word la has also to be rendered in English by the adverb 
there. When, however, this is the case, the a of the la is always marked 
with a grave accent, thus — la, as we see it in the text ; there can not, 
therefore, be any difficulty when la has the meaning there, since so 
visible a sign is used to point it out. 

It may be asked, what business has the word there in the sentence 
under consideration 1 This is another matter, and merits a little ex- 
planation. The English have the two little demonstrative words, this 
and that ; — this expressing an object spoken of to be near, and that ex- 
pressing the object spoken of to be distant. The French have only the 
little particle ce to express both these relative positions of an object, and 
are consequently obliged to use some other word along with it to indicate 
more exactly the position of the object. The words used for this pur- 
pose are ci, here, and la, there. In order to express the English words 
this and that, the French are obliged to proceed in the following manner : 

This world . . . ce monde-ci . . . This here world. 

That treasure . . ce tresor-la . . . That there treasure. 

This philosopher . ce philosophe-ci . . This here philosopher. 

That place . . . * cet endroit-la . . . That there place. 

The English occasionally employ a similar construction ; for instance, 



PRONUNCIATION. 53 

ia the phrases " Down that 'ere street," " Up that 'ere stair ;" but we 
presume such phrases are exotics, as the word 'ere or there is superfluous 
in such cases, the words this or that expressing precisely enough the 
relative position of the objects indicated. In French, however, it is 
necessary to say, " That there place," or rather, " That place there," 
and to employ the adverb there in all cases where the object spoken of 
is not present to the speaker ; as otherwise, the ce would not, if em- 
ployed tfione, indicate with a sufficient degree of clearness the object 
spoken of. 

It will be observed by the learner, that the adverb la, when employed 
in this way, is joined by a hyphen to the noun that precedes it, and also 
that ce is used before a word beginning with a consonant, and cet before 
words beginning with a vowel. 

XIX. 

lis avaient They had, 

II avai£ . . .... He had. 

The syllable ent at the end of verbs is never pronounced ; it follows, 
that the word avaient, given above, should be pronounced as if written 
av-ai. We may also observe here, that final consonants are generally 
silent in French ; so that the word avail, given above, should also be 
pronounced as if written av-ai. The two words avait and avaient, con- 
sequently, though differing in spelling, are pronounced exactly alike. 
The learner must, however, be careful always to write in the plural 
avaient and in the singular avait, as — 

lis avaient un tresor . . They had a treasure. 
II avait un tresor . . . He had a treasure. 



PRONUNCIATION. 

DIPHTHONGS. 

In the English language two vowels are occasionally used to repre- 
sent a particular sound. The vowels on, for instance, in the word house, 
represent a sound that neither the o nor the u resemble when pronounced 
individually. The same is the case in French : two vowels are used to 
represent some one particular sound of the language ; and when two 
vowels are so employed, they are usually, though improperly called 
diphthongs. There are in French altogether five diphthongs, repre- 



54 PRONUNCIATION. 

senting five distinct sounds of the language, of which the following is a 
table exhibiting the sounds they represent. 

oi is pronounced like wa in the English word wall. 

ai " ai " " laid. 

au " o " " go. 

ou " oo " " good. 

cm " ue " " guest* 

The only one of these diphthongs that requires a special notice is the 
eu. This diphthong is very much used in French, and most French- 
men pronounce it precisely as the English do the ue in the word guest. 
The natives of Paris, however, give the eu a deeper inflection, some- 
what approaching to a in the English word bath. Natives of London, in 
their pronunciation of such words as birth, mirth, give the ir a sound 
that, is an exact counterpart to the Parisian inflection of the French eu ; 
so that they have only to transfer this sound to the French eu in order to 
pronounce that diphthong in absolute perfection. Those among our 
students unacquainted with this local inflection of ir, must use the sound 
of ue in the word guest, which, though not the most elegant, is neverthe- 
less the most common pronunciation of the diphthong. 

The learner should now go over the words of the text, and pronounce 
the diphthongs in the maimer pointed out in the table ; by doing tbi* 
carefully and attentively, he will make himself familiar with the signs 
and value of the combined vowels. When he has accomplished this, he 
will have gained an important point in his progress toward acquiring the 
French pronunciation ; we say an important point, because the sounds 
of the five diphthongs may almost be said to constitute the language. 

We would here guard the student against allowing the peculiarities of 
his own language to mislead and retard him in the study of French. In 
English, diphthongs are employed to represent single sounds as well as 
in French ; but the sounds represented by a diphthong in the one lan- 
guage, is in most cases totally different from the sound it represents in 
the other. Unless therefore the learner be exceedingly careful at the 
outset, he will naturally give the English sound to the French diphthong, 
and the result will be a bad pronunciation of the latter. The English 
student of French must also guard himself against the unfixed notions as 
to the value of letters he has imbibed with his mother tongue. An 
English diphthong, like the chameleon, has the property of change, 
varying its sound to suit the convenience of the word in which it is 
used ; take for an example of this, ou in the words 

* In all other combinations of vowels beside these, each vowel has its own indi- 
vidual sound. 



COMPOSITION. 55 

Cousin, court, could, count. 

In each of these four words the ou has a perfectly distinct, sound. Such 
a melange can not but superinduce a vague impression of the value of 
letters exceedingly pernicious in the study of spoken language-. But 
having a variety of sounds is not the only noxious circumstance attendant 
on the English diphthongs — some of the sounds of one diphthong are oc- 
casionally given to another : the sound of ou in could is also possessed 
by the diphthong oo in good ; the ou in court is claimed by the oa in 
coarse ; and the ou. in count is enjoyed by the ow in cowherd. It is a 
favorite theme with the writers of English grammars to say, that an 
Englishman should be well grounded in his own, before he studies an- 
other language ; we must observe, that if another language be grounded 
upon the discordant materials we have been now speaking of, it could 
not stand, it would soon be swallowed up in the perplexities of its founda- 
tion, and very probably " leave not a wreck behind." The mingling of 
the sounds peculiar4x>th to the vowels and diphthongs of the English 
language, destroys the relation that should subsist between its ortho- 
graphy and pronunciation, and must at the same time destroy the impres- 
sion that such should exist. Throughout the whole series of modern 
languages, except the English, and perhaps the Chinese, there is an in- 
timate connexion between the orthography and the pronunciation. We 
do not know much either of the language or of the literature of the Es- 
quimaux ; but we know enough of both to be aware that greater con- 
sistency reigns between their written and spoken language than there is 
in English. The learner therefore must endeavor to divest his mind of 
the views of language he has obtained from his mother tongue, and re- 
place them by some more stable notions as to the relation between sound 
and letter. He must not suppose that because a vowel, or a combination 
of vowels, has three or four different sounds in his own language, that 
such is the case in any other. The sounds we have given of the five 
French diphthongs in the preceding table, they always have, under all 
circumstances, and in every position : in this particular the French pro- 
nunciation is not only fixed and immutable, but exceedingly clear and 
simple : nothing can be more easy than to pronounce the diphthongs 
correctly, and few points in the language are of more importance. 

COMPOSITION. 



He has. 

What has he ? 

Has he wherewithal to eat? 

Is he wealthy ? 

Yes, he is rich. 



He has said. 
What has he said ? 
Who said that 1 
When did he say that 1 
To whom did he say that ? 



56 



COMPOSITION. 



He said that to the philosopher. 

He is. 

Who is he ? 

Is he a philosopher ? 

No, he is a traveller. 

Where is he ? 

Is he here 1 

No, he is there. 

Where is the philosopher ? 

The philosopher is at Paris. 

What is that person ? 

He is a traveller. 

What is that other person ? 

It is the philosopher. 

He wants. 

What does he want ? 

He wants wealth. 

Who is it that wants wealth ? 

It is the philosopher. 

From whom does he want wealth 1 

Why does he ask for riches ? 

What does that traveller want 1 

He wants a place. 

What place does he want ? 

He wants the place where the three 

travellers died. 
He wants also a companion. 
The person he wants is at Paris. 
That is a pity. 
Look at that person going along 

there, that is a philosopher. 
There is a traveller from Paris. 
Look at that place. 
There is a misfortune. 
Here is another. 
Here is a traveller. 
There is another. 
This person is like that. 
This philosopher is similar to that. 
What a pity ! 
What misfortunes ! 
What wealth ! 
What a philosopher ! 
What a lot of travellers ! 
What a crowd of people ! 
What excessive politeness ! 
What a place ! 
There are riches ! 
One of the travellers said to the oth- 



er, we are hungry and must have 
something to eat, let one of us go 
and buy some meat. 

Is it a misfortune to be rich ? said 
two travellers who died of hunger. 

A philosopher passing the place 
where the two travellers were 
eating (mangeaient) their com- 
panion, said : there is a manner 
of making a meal ! 

The three travellers said that their 
two companions died after having 
poisoned a philosopher. 

We are unfortunate, said two trav- 
ellers who found a philosopher 
on their road. 

It is necessary to have something 
to eat, said a philosopher, after 
having killed his comrade. 

We have something to eat, said the 
two travellers when they found 
the poisoned meat. 

Now we are poisoned, said the 
two travellers, after having eaten 
the meat. 

How rich we are ! said the three 
travellers when they found the 
treasure. 

We are hungry, said two persons 
when they ate their companion. 

We have a treasure, said two per- 
sons when they found a philoso- 
pher. 

What is wealth ! said a passenger. 
There are three travellers who 
found a treasure, and afterward 
died of hunger. 

The world treated the three travel- 
lers in such a manner that they 
all died. 

There is a way of going to work, 
said a philosopher, when the 
traveller put poison in the meat 
he had brought to eat. 

We must eat, said the two travellers 
when they ate their companion . 

Here we are masters of the treasure ' 
said the two travellers after hav- 
ing killed their companion 



LESSON FIFTH. 



READING. 

REPETITION. 



Il a. Qu'a-t-il 1 A-t-il de quoi manger 1 A-t-il 
des richesses 1 Oai, il a des richesses. II a dit. Qu'a- 
t-il dit? Qui a dit cela? Quand a-t-il dit cela 1 
A qui a-t-il dit cela ? II a dit cela au philosophe ? 
II est. Qui est-il 1 Est-il philosophe? Non, il est 
voyageur. Ou est-il? Est-il dans cet endroit-ci ? Non, 
il est. dans cet endroit-la. Ou est Monsieur le phi- 
losophe ? Monsieur le philosophe est a. Paris. Quelle 
est cette persoune-la ? C'est un voyageur. Quelle est 
cette autre personne ? C'est le philosophe. II de- 
mande. Que demande-t-il? II demande des richesses. 
Qui est-ce qui demande des richesses? C'est le phi- 
losophe. A qui demande-t-il des richesses? Pour- 
quoi demande-t-il des richesses? Que demande ce 
voyageur-la? II demande un endroit. Quel endroit 
demande-t-il ? II demande l'endroit oii moururent les 
trois voyageurs. II demande aussi son camarade. La 
personne qu'il demande est a Paris. Voila un malheur. 
Voyez cette personne passant par la, c'est un philo- 
sophe. Voila un voyageur de Paris. Voyez cet 
endroit-la. Voila un malheur. Voici un autre malheur. 
Voici un voyageur. Voila un autre voyageur. Cette 
personne-la est semhlable a cette personne-ci. Ce 
philosophe-ci est semblable a celui-la. Quel malheur ! 



58 READING. 

Que de malheurs ! Quelles richesses ! Quel philo- 
sophe ! Que de voyageurs ! Que de monde ! Que 
de manieres ! Quel endroit ! Voila des richesses ! Un 
des voyageurs dit a l'autre, " Nous avons faim, et il faut 
avoir de quoi manger qu'un de nous aille acheter de la 
viande." 

" Est-ce un malheur d'avoir des richesses?" dirent deux 
voyageurs qui moururent de faim. Un philosophe pas- 
sant a Fendroit ou les deux voyageurs mangeaient leur 
camarade, dit, " Voila une maniere de faire un repas. 
Les trois voyageurs dirent que leurs deux camarades 
moururent apres avoir empoisonne un philosophe. " Nous 
avons du malheur," dirent deux voyageurs qui trouverent 
un philosophe dans leur chemin. "II faut avoir de quoi 
manger," dit un philosophe, apres avoir rue son camarade. 
" Nous avons de quoi manger," dirent les deux voyageurs, 
quand ils trouverent la viande empoisonnee. "Nous 
voila empoisonnes!" dirent les deux voyageurs apres 
avoir mange la viande. " Que de richesses nous avons !" 
dirent les trois voyageurs quand ils trouverent le tresor. 
" Nous avons faim," dirent deux personnes quand ils 
mangerent leur camarades. " Nous avons un tresor," 
dirent deux personnes quand ils trouverent un philosophe. 
" Qu'est-ce que les richesses?" dit un passant, " voila trois 
voyageurs qui trouverent un tresor et moururent de faim 
apres. Le monde a traite les trois voyageurs de maniere 
qu'ils moururent tons les trois." " Voila une maniere 
de faire," dit un philosophe quand le voyageur mit du 
poison dans la viande qu'il avait apportee a manger. "TI 
faut manger," dirent les deux voyageurs quand ils man- 
gerent leur camarade. " Nous voila maitres du tresor I" 
dirent les deux voyageurs apres avoir tue leur camarade. 



READING. 59 

READING. 

TEXT. 

Instead of giving a fresh portion, of text, we shall make what we have 
already given the subject of the present lesson. A few words well 
known, and a few leading principles thoroughly understood and firmly 
established on the memory, will be of more use to the learner than a 
vagrant notion of twenty times the number. The following is the 
text constituting the preceding lessons, united under one head, and with 
which the learner ought now to be quite as familiar as with his 
paternoster. 

LES VOYAGEURS AVIDES. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un tresor dans leur chemin. 
et dirent, "Nous avons faim, qu'un de nous aille acheter de 
quoi manger;" un d'eux se detacha et alia dans 1'intention 
de leur apporter de quoi faire un repas. 

Mais chemin faisant, il dit en lui-meme, il faut que j'em- 
poisonne la viande afin que mes deux camarades meurent 
en la mangeant, et que je jouisse du tresor moi seul. II 
executa son dessein et mit du poison dans ce qu'il avait 
apporte a manger. 

Mais les cleux autres qui avaient coneu un semblable 
dessein centre lui pendant son absence, Fassassinerent a 
son retour, et demeurerent les maitres du tresor. Apres 
l'avoir tue ils mangerent de la viande empoisonnee et 
moururent aussi tous deux. 

Un philosophe passant par cet endroit-la, dit, voila, quel 
est le inonde ! Voyez de quelle maniere il a traite ces 
trois person nes. Malheur a celui qui lui demande des 
richesses. 



GO CONVERSATION. 



CONVERSATION. 



In addition to the words already introduced under this head, we 
shall, in the present colloquial exercise make use of the following 
new ones. 

Mesdemoiselles, young ladies, pronounced med-ma-zel. 
\ there, " ee 

c of it, or, of them, ) 
En < about it, or about > en 

\ them, ) 

On one, " on 

From the translation we have already given in the text, of the word 
dit, the learner will be aware that on dit is word for word one says, 
but in translating a sentence he should not rest satisfied with a mere 
literal translation of the words, he should see whether some other 
English expression will not bring out the sense of the context with 
greater clearness. The sentence on dit is very much used in French, 
and the literal translation one says is scarcely English ; some other 
kind of phraseology must therefore be employed in English in cases 
where on dit is employed in French, and it is the business of the 
learner to find these out. The other words of the phrase will gen- 
erally suggest how on dit should be translated. The expressions they 
say, people say, it is said, will be frequently found the actual English 
equivalents for on dit. In the same way the learner will be aware 
that the phrase on avait apporte de la viande, is word for word, one had 
brought of the meat, but a moderate exertion of intelligence will sug- 
gest " Some meat had been brought," as the English translation of this 
phrase. When the words of a sentence are known, the learner should 
exercise his ingenuity in supplying the English for the French construc- 
tion ; by this means facility and accuracy in translation will eventually 
be acquired. We shall introduce abundantly die pronoun on in the fol- 
lowing colloquy, in order to familiarize the learner with the use of the 
word, and habituate him to rely upon his own judgment in making Eng- 
lish of an expression wherein it occurs. 

The foregoing remarks are also applicable to the pronoun y, there ; 
and to en, of them, or, of it ; both of which are of very common occur- 
rence in French. The word en has already appeared in the text, but in 
that case it is equivalent to the English word in. En has two perfectly 



CONVERSATION. G 1 

distinct significations , in one case it is a form of the Latin preposition 
in, and in the other is a contraction of the Latin word inde ; in the first 
case it is equivalent to the English preposition in, and in the second it is 
a pronoun, and will have to be rendered by one or other of the expres- 
sions we have pointed out. The intelligent learner will always be able 
to judge by the words of the context whether en is a preposition or a 
pronoun, and it will be necessary for him to pay attention to this distinc- 
tion in translating the word. We have said that y is equivalent to the 
English word there. The y is used exactly as the word there, in all 
cases where there indicates a place, with this difference, that y is always 
placed before a verb, whereas there is usually placed after one. Beside 
the common use of the y, in such phrases as il y etait, he was there, an 
idiomatic use is made of the word, that requires to be noticed here. 
The French, to signify what is meant in English by the expression 
there was, say, it there had, il y avait ; and in asking such a question as, 
" Was there so and so V say there had it so and so 1 y avait-il so and 
so ? This idiomatic construction will have to be borne in mind in going 
over the following exercise. The words y, en, and on, being much 
employed in French, it is necessary that their use and value be well 
understood. We have introduced them abundantly in our present collo- 
quial exercise, because the subject of conversation being known, and all 
the other words, the learner will very easily find out the meaning of 
these three, and thus he will be able to detect for himself the principle 
that determines their use. A careful observation of the application we 
shall make of the en's, y's, and on's, will greatly facilitate the learner in 
reading a French author, and will pave the way to a clear perception of 
the genius of the language. 

Dit-on les trois voyageurs mourur- Non, Mesdemoiselles,* on dit qu'ils 

ent a Paris ? moururent dans le chemin. 

Dit-on qu'ils assassinerent un phi- Non, Mesdemoiselles, mais on dit 

losophe ? qu'ils assassinerent leur cama- 

rade. 

Dit-on qu'ils avaient empoisonne Non, Mesdemoiselles. 

leur camarade ? 

Les voyageurs mangerent-ils de la Oui, ils en mangerent. 

viande empoisonnee ? 

Enf inoururent-ils ? Oui, ils en moururent. 

* In addressing young ladies, the compliment Mesdemoiselles is always employed in 
French. 

f It will be observed that en will be here better translated by in consequmce of that 3 
than by its simple equivalent of it. 



62 



CONVERSATION. 



Qu'en <lit un philosoplie ? 

Que trouverent les trois voyageurs 

dans lc chemin ? 
Qu'en dit Tun d'eux ? . 
( 'ombien des voyageurs y avait-il 

en chemin ? 

Y avait-il d'autres personnes ? 

Y avait-il un tresor dans le chemin? 

Y avait-il de quoi manger dans le 

chemin ' 

Y avait-il de la viande dans ce 

qu'on avait apporte ? 
Dans quoi y avait-il du poison ? 



De quoi mangerent les voyageurs \ 

Y avait-il du poison dans ce qu'ils 

avaient mange ? 
Ou dit-on qu'ils demeurerent ? 

Y tronverent-ils de quoi manger ? 

Y trouverent-ils un camarade ? 
Quy trouverent-ils ? 

QuV dirent-ils ? . . 



Qui y assassinerent-ils ? 

Qu'y mangerent-ils ? 

Dit-on qu'ils y moururent ? . 

Dit-on qu'ils moururent de faim 



Quavaient les trois voyageurs en 

chemin ? 
Qu'en dirent-ils ! ... 

S'en detacha-t-il un dans cette in- 
tention • 

Alla-t-il acheter de la viande ? 

J >it-on qu'il avait apporte de la vi- 
ande ? 

Avait-il du poison ? 

Mit-il du poison dans la viande ? 

Pourquoi ? .... 

Combien de camarades avait-il? 



II dit, voiia. comment le monde a 

traite ces personnes. 
lis y trouverent un tresor. 

II dit, il faut que j'en jouisse seul. 
Trois. 

II y avait aussi un philosophe. 

Oui ; il y en avait un. 

Noh, mais on en avait apporte'. 

Oui, il y en avait. 

II y en avait dans la viande qu'un 
de voyageurs avait apportee 
pour manger. 

lis mangerent de la viande. 

Oui, il y en avait. 

On dit qu'ils demeurerent dans le 
chemin. 

Xon. Mesdemoiselles. 

Non, Mesdemoiselles. 

Us y trouverent un tresor. 

lis dirent nous avons faim, qu'un 
de nous aille acheter de quoi 
manger. 

lis y assassinerent un de leurs ca- 
marades. 

lis y mangerent de la viande. 

Oui, on dit cela. 

Non, il y en eut un de tue et les 
deux autres moururent en 
mangeant de la viande empoi- 
sonnee. 

lis avaient faim. 

lis dirent, quun de nous aille ache- 
ter de quoi manger. 
Oui. un d'eux se detacha. 

Oui, il alia en acheter. 

Oui, on dit qu'il en avait apportee. 

Oui, il en avait. 

Oui, il en mit. 

Afin que ses camarades mourussem 

en la mangeant. 
II en avait deux. 



CONVERSATION. 



63 



Avait-on cmpoisonno les trois voy- Non, Mesdemoiselles. 



ageurs ? 

Avait-on un tresor ? 



Alla-t-on achetcr dc quoi manger ? 
Alla-t-on acheter de la viande ? 
Alla-t-on manger un philosoplic ? 
Alla-t-on a Paris ? 
Dit-on que les trois voyageurs de- 

meurerent a Paris ? 
Dit-on que les trois voyageurs 

mangerent un philosophe ? 
Que dit-on qu'ils mange rent ? 



Oui, Mesdemoiselles, les trois voy- 
ageurs en trouverent un dans 
le chemin. 

Oui, on y* alia. 

Oui, on y alia. 

Mais non, Mesdemoiselles. 

Non, Mesdemoiselles. 

Non, Mesdemoiselles. 

Mais non, Mesdemoiselles. 



On dit que les voyageurs manger- 
ent de la viande. 
Dit-on que le philosophe avait mis Non, mais on dit qu'un de leurs 



camarades Tavait empoisonnee . 
Oui, les trois voyageurs avaient 

faim. 
Oui, le voyageur qui se detacha en 

avait apporte. 
Oui, les deux voyageurs avaient as- 

sassine un de leurs camarades. 
Non, Mesdemoiselles. 



du poison dans la viande ? 
Avait-on faim ? 

Avait-on apporte de quoi manger 

Avait-on assassine un voyageur 1 

Av r ait-on tue un philosophe ? 
Comment le monde a-t-il traite les De maniere qu'ils moururent tous 

les trois. 

II en dit, " Voila, quel est le 
monde ! voyez de quelle ma- 
niere il a traite ces trois per- 
sonnes. Malheur a celui qui 
lui demande des richesses." 

Dans l'endroit ou. moururent les 
trois voyageurs. 

Oui, le voyageur avait execute son 
dessein. 

Le dessein d'assassiner ses cama- 
rades. 

II acheta de la viande et y mit du 
poison. 

Non, il apporta le tout a ses cama- 
rades. 

lis demeurerent en chemin. 



trois voyageurs ? 
Qu'en dit un philosophe ? 



En quel endroit dit-il cela ? 
t 
Executa-t-on un dessein ? 

Quel dessein executa-t-il ? 

Comment l'executa-t-il ? 

En mangea-t-il lui-meme ? 



Pendant son absence ou demeure 

rent les deux autres ? 
Quand il apporta ta viande empoi- Ses deux camarades. 

sonnee qui en mangea ? 
En moururent-ils ? . . . Oui, ils moururent apres l'avoir 

mange e. 

* It will be observed that y here has rather the signification of for that purpose, 
than its primitive signification there. 



64 CONSTRUCTION. 

Les trois voyageurs moururent-ils Oui, ils moururent tous. 

tous ? 
Ou moururent les trois voyageurs ? Dans l'endroit ou. ils trouverent le 

tresor. 



CONSTRUCTION. 

XX. 

Trois voyageurs trouverent un Three travellers found a treas- 
tresor ure. 



Ils dirent 
Ils mement . 
Ils Passassinere/j£ 
Ils demeureren* 
Ils mangere/zi 
Ils moururent 



They said. 

They may die. 

They assassinated him. 

They remained. 

They ate. 

They died. 



It will be observed that these vecbs are all of the third person plural, 
that they all end in ent ; and if the learner has been attending to the 
pronunciation, he will be aware that this ent is not pronounced in any of 
them. If we inquire whence comes this ent, and wherefore it is not pro- 
nounced, we must go back a century or two in the history of the lan- 
guage in order to find the cause. In the Latin language, of which 
French is nothing more than a barbarous dialect, the third person plural 
of all tenses of verbs end in ent, or nt preceded by some other vowel : 
this ent in Latin is equivalent to the English pronoun they, and to the 
French ils. The Franks, when they got possession of Gaul, preferred 
expressing themselves when speaking in the third person, by a pronoun, 
and as they do not appear to have paid the smallest respect to Latin 
grammar, dropped the ent altogether, having found that they could make 
themselves perfectly understood without it. The Latin termination, 
however,, continued to exist in the written language even although its 
equivalent ils had been introduced, and thus a solecism was created, and 
exists in the language. 

It may be some consolation for an Englishman to know, that while his 
own language is yet in a state demi-savage, there are also barbarisms in 
languages that boast a higher degree of civilization. The French can 
not, any more than the English, declare itself an independent language ; 
it is still a " motley clown," one half belonging to the transalpine con- 
querors of Gaul, and the other half to the Goths and Vandals from be- 
yond the Rhine. From the one it has got its personal endings, and from 



CONSTRUCTION. 65 

the other the habit of using subsidiary words ; in continuing to use both 
in defiance of logic and grammatical analog)-, the French only perpetu- 
ate a monument of their double subserviency. 

The learner must bear in mind that though ent is written at the end 
of all the third persons plural of verbs, it is never pronounced. 

XXI. 

FORMATION OF A NEGATION 

The English negative particle not is rendered in French by the two 
words ne and pas, the ne being placed before the word negatived, and 
the pas after it ; in this way the affirmative, ils trouverent un tresor, they 
found a treasure, forms the negative, ils ne trouverent pas de tresor, they 
did not find a treasure ; and so in the case of all other negatives. 

When ne comes before a word beginning with a vowel, the e is elided, 
as from the affirmative c'est, it is, is formed the negative 

Ce n'est pas . . . It is not. 

In asking a question with a negative, the ne is then placed before the 
simple interrogation itself, and the pas at the end of it ; as from the in- 
terrogation est-ce ? is it ? is formed the negative interrogation 

N'est-ce pas 1 . . . Is it not 1 

We may here observe that this particular interrogation, this n'est-ce pas 
(pronounced nes-pa), is very often used in asking questions. It is of 
universal application, and, on being put to the end of any affirmative, 
forms an interrogative. 

The following examples will show the use and application of n'est-ce 
pas : 

Vous avez le tresor n'est-ce pas ? You have the treasure, have you 

not? 
Nous avons faim, n'est-ce pas ? We are hungry, are we not ? 

Ils mangerent leur camarade, n'est- They ate their companion, did they 

ce pas ? not ? 

II alia a Paris, n'est-ce pas ? He went to Paris, did he not ? 

We shall introduce a series of negatives under the head Composition, 
for the practice of the learner in their construction. 

XXII. 

Ils demeurerent les maitres du They remained masters of the trea- 
tresor. sure. 



66 PRONUNCIATION. 

In English the use of the definite article the is subject to greater ex- 
actitude than in French ; the is only used in English when some special 
object or objects are alluded to ; but in French, as may be observed by 
the phrase before us, the definite article is used even although no defini- 
tion is signified. " When the two travellers killed their companion, they 
remained masters of the treasure ;" there is certainly no necessity for 
saying here, " they remained the masters of the treasure." In French, 
however, an article of some kind or other is used before almost every 
noun ; this appears to be done in order more to point out its gender than 
to serve any other purpose. We have already said (§ XI.) that nouns 
sometimes have a different meaning when they have the feminine article 
la before them, than when they are distinguished by the masculine arti- 
cle ; hence the article is used in French in many instances where it is 
totally unnecessary as an instrument of definition, and consequently would 
not be employed in English. In most of the French grammars we have 
seen, a large portion is taken up in explaining the use of the article in 
French, in which the authors generally contrive to embarrass themselves, 
and create a complication of difficulties where there is absolutely nothing 
but the utmost simplicity, the article being used in French on all occa- 
sions that it possibly can be used. We have seen a large octavo volume 
written on this one subject, and we think the author merits the pillory for 
his pains ; not only because he has thereby confounded and misled all 
his brother grammarians, but because he has led people who have no 
means of knowing better, to suppose that there is a difficulty where none 
exists, and so to waste, in hunting after a shadow, the time that might be 
profitably employed. 



PRONUNCIATION. 

VOWELS. 

There are in French, as in English, the five vowels, a, e, i, o, u. Of 
these we have already given (page 26, lesson second), the pronunciation 
of the u; and page 39, lesson third, that of the e. The other three are 
pronounced in French as follows : — 

a is pronounced like a in the English word part. 
i " ee " seen. 

o " o " stone. 

Besides these, there is the letter y, usually considered in both Ian- 



PRONUNCIATION. 67 

guages to be a vowel. Y is pronounced in French exactly like the i, 
that is, like ce in the English word seen ; but when y occurs between two 
vowels, it then becomes equivalent to two Cs ; for example, the word 
voyageurs is pronounced as if written voiiageurs ; the first of the z's in 
conjunction with the o forms the diphthong oi, pronounced as we have 
said wa, and the second t having its own sound makes up the pronuncia- 
tion (wa-ee-a-shair) we have given of the word in the text. Each of the 
English vowels has two or three sounds, some of which are enjoyed in 
common by all the five, but no such confusion exists in the French lan- 
guage. Each of the French vowels has the one particular sound we 
have assigned to it, which must always be given to it in order that the 
word in which it occurs may be intelligibly pronounced. Nothing there- 
fore can be more easily attained than a correct pronunciation of the 
French vowels, and yet we know that it is frequently a long time before 
the learner accomplishes this part of his task. We have said that the letter 
a has the sound of a in the English word part, but this is not the most 
common English sound of that vowel. An Englishman, when he meets 
with an a in a word whose pronunciation he is unacquainted with, will 
naturally give it the sound of a in made. The French a never has, under 
any circumstances, such a sound ; and if this sound be given to the a, the 
meaning of the word in which it is so pronounced will be totally ob- 
scured. These remarks are applicable to the other vowels. The natural 
predilections of the learner will lead him to pronounce them all inac- 
curately, he must therefore endeavor to associate the French vowels with 
their French sounds. To effect this, he should again go over the words 
of the text, and pronounce all the a's that do not form a part of one or 
other of the five diphthongs, like a in the English words part, start, dart ; 
all the els like ee in the English words seen, been, green ; all the o's like o 
in stone, gone, bone. This exercise will serve to impress on the memory 
a fixed notion of the sounds peculiar to the French vowels, that will be 
of the greatest use to him in his future intercourse with the language. 

CONSONANTS. 

Singles. 

With the following five exceptions, and the nasal sound given to the m 
and n already spoken of, the consonants are pronounced in French pre- 
cisely as they are in English. 

1st. The letter g- in French before e, i, and y, is pronounced like the 
z in azure, as voyageur, pronounced voyazhair. The letter j is always 
so pronounced, as jour, day, pronounced zhoor. The learner is requested 



68 PRONUNCIATION. 

to pay attention to these sounds of the j and g, as these letters are pro- 
nounced in English in a very different manner. 

2d. When s or x occur between two vowels, they are pronounced in 
in French like z in the English word zone, as empoisonner, to poison, pro- 
nounced empoizonne. 

3d. The letter t before i is generally pronounced like s, as in the word 
intention, pronounced in-ten-see-on. 

4th. The letter r has always the vibrating sound er-r-r of the English 
word term. 

5th. The letters gu are pronounced like g in the English word get, as 
in the word guerre, war, pronounced ger, giving the g the hard sound. 
And in the same way qu are pronounced like k, as in the word qui, who, 
pronounced hee ; quel, what, pronounced kel ; question, pronounced kes- 
tee-on, &c. 

These five observations should be read over two or three times, so that 
they may be well fixed on the memory, as they are essential to a correct 
pronunciation. 

The most marked feature in the pronunciation of French is, that a con- 
sonant at the end of a word is silent. No final consonants are pronounced 
except r, which is also silent at the end of manger, to eat, pronounced 
mange ; tuer, to kill, pronounced tue, and other infinitives of the first con- 
jugation. This peculiarity presents little difficulty, the learner has only 
to cut off the concluding consonant of each word before pronouncing it ; 
thus he will pronounce trois, trwa, voyageurs, wa-ee-a-geur, and so with 
all other words ending in a consonant.* When, however, there is a close 
connexion between two words, such as exists between a verb and its 
pronoun, one of which ends in a consonant and the other begins with 
a vowel, the final consonant is then pronounced with the vowel that fol- 
lows it ; as, 

Nous avons pronounced noo-zavon. 
Faut-il " fo-teel. 

Son absence " so-nab-sens. 

We have already remarked, under the head Construction - , § XX., 
that ent of the third persons plural of verbs is also silent ; the t when fol- 
lowed by a vowel is however enunciated, as mangerent-ils, pronounced 
manger-teel. This will be better understood by referring to Construc- 
tion, \ VI. 

* There are a few words of which the final consonant is pronounced ; these the 
student will become better acquainted with as he progresses in the language. 



COMPOSITION. 



69 



Doubles. 

Besides the sounds represented by the single consonants, there are two 
others used in French, represented by double consonants, these are the 
liquid ng and the Zmouillc. When ng occur between two vowels, these 
letters are pronounced like ny in English ; as, 



La campagne 
Boulogne 



pronounced 



la cam-pan-ye. 
Boo-lon-ye. 



enunciating the ye very slightly. When two IVs occur after i, followed 
by another vowel, they are pronounced like y, as in the word file, girl, 
pronounced fee-ye. In conclusion we may add, that if the learner has 
followed up attentively what we have said in this and the four preceding 
lessons, he is now capable, so far as the pronunciation is concerned, of 
reading French. There are here and there exceptions to the rules we 
have laid down, but these will become known to the learner as he pro- 
ceeds. Once familiar with the broad principles and leading feature of 
the pronunciation of a language, and the minute detail will be no obstacle ; 
the learner's own observation and judgment will tell him when a rule 
may be judiciously departed from. 



COMPOSITION. 



The traveller is not at Paris. 

Is he not in France ? 

No, he is not in France. 

Where is the treasure ? 

Is it not on the road ? 

No, it is not there. 

The philosopher is not rich. 

Has he not the treasure ? 

No, he has not the treasure. 

The masters of the treasure had 

nothing to eat. 
Had they no meat ? 
No, they had none. 
You have (vous avez). 
You have eaten your companion, 

have you not 1 
You have killed a philosopher, have 

you not ? 
You have the treasure, have you 

not? 
You are hungry, are you not ? 



You have wherewithal to eat, have 

you not ? 
Have you nothing to eat ? 
Are you not hungry ? 
Have you not the treasure ? 
Have you not the meat ? 
The travellers did not find a treas- 



ure. 
They did not 
They did not 

traveller. 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 
They did not 

tion. 



eat their companion, 
not poison any other 

bring anything to eat. 
go to Paris, 
pass into France, 
live on the road, 
buy any meat, 
kill any philosopher, 
assassinate any one. 
seek riches, 
execute their inten- 



70 



COMPOSITION. 



They did not separate themselves. 

They did not die. 

They did not conceive a design. 

They did not say, " We are hun- 
gry-" 

They did not enjoy the treasure. 

They did not put any poison in the 
meat. 

They did not make any repast. 

They did not see any philosopher. 

The traveller did not find a treas- 
ure. 

He did not eat his companion. 

He did not poison any other trav- 
eller. 

He did not bring anything to eat. 

He did not go to Paris. 

He did not go into France. 

He did not remain on the road. 

He did not buy any meat. 

He did not kill a philosopher. 

He did not assassinate anybody. 

He did not seek for riches. 

He did not execute his intention. 

He did not separate himself from 
his companions. 

He did not die. 

He did not conceive a design. 



He did not say that a philosopher is 
an evil. 

He did not put any poison in the 
meat. 

He did not enjoy the treasure. 

He did not see any other traveller. 

He did not make a repast. 

No one found a treasure on the 
road. 

No one brought any meat there. 

No one ate any. 

No one bought any. 

No one lived on the road. 

No one killed a philosopher there. 

No one assassinated a traveller 
there. 

No one executed an intention there. 

Were the three travellers not eaten ? 

No, they were not eaten. 

They are dead (ils sont morts), are 
they not ? 

Yes, they are dead. 

That is a pity, is it not ? 

Yes, it is a pity. 

Are all the three travellers dead ? 

Yes, they are all dead* 

Good-by (adieu) to the three trav- 
ellers. 



LESSON SIXTH 



READING. 

REPETITION. 

Le voyageur n'est pas a Paris. Est-ce qu'il n'est pas 
en France 1 Non, il n'est pas en France. Ou est le 
tresor? N'est-ce pas dans le chemin? Non, ce n'est pas 
la. Le philosophe n'a pas de richesses. N'a-t-il pas le 
tresor? Non, il n'a pas le tresor. Les maitres du tresor 
n'avaient pas de quoi manger. N'avaient-ils pas de la 
viande ? Non, ils n'en avaient pas. Vous avez. Vous 
avez mange votre camarade, n'est-ce pas? Vous avez 
tue un philosophe, n'est-ce pas ? Vous avez le tresor, 
"n'est-ce pas? Vous avez faim, n'est-ce pas? Vous avez 
de quoi manger, n'est-ce pas ? N'avez-vous pas de quoi 
manger? N'avez-vous pas faim? N'avez-vous pas le 
tresor ? N'avez-vous pas de viande ? Les vojageurs ne 
trouverent pas un tresor. Ils ne mangerent pas leur cama- 
rade. Ils n'empoisonnerent pas d'autre voyageur. Ils 
n'apporterent pas de quoi manger. Ils n'allerent pas a 
Paris. Ils ne passerent pas en France. Ils ne demeur- 
erent pas dans le chemin. Ils n'acheterent pas de viande. 
Us ne tuerent pas le philosophe. Ils n'assassinerent 
personne. Ils ne demanderent pas de richesses. lis 
n'executerent pas leur intention. Ils ne se detacherent 
pas les uns des autres. Ils ne moururent pas. Ils ne 
concurent pas un dessein. Ils ne dirent pas nous avons 
faim. Ils ne jouirent pas du tresor. Ils ne mirent pas de 
poison dans la viande. lis ne nrent pas de repas. Ils ne 
virent pas de philosophe. Le voyageur ne trouva pas un 
tresor. II ne mangea pas son camarade. II n'empoisonna 
pas d'autre voyageur. II n'apporta pas de quoi manger. 



72 READING. 

II n'alla pas a Paris. II ne passa pas en France. II ne 
deineura pas dans le chemin. II n'acheta pas de viande. 
II ne tua pas un philosophe. II n'assassina personne. II 
ne demanda pas de richesses. II n'executa pas son inten- 
tion. II ne se detacha pas de ses camarades. II ne 
mourut pas. II ne con^ut pas un dessein. II ne dit pas 
qu'un philosophe est un malheur. II ne mit pas de 
poison dans la viande. II ne jouit pas du tresor. II ne 
vit pas d'autre voyageur. II ne fit pas de repas. On n'a 
pas trouve un tresor dans le chemin. On n'y a pas ap- 
porte de viande. On n'en a pas mange. On n'en a pas 
achete. On n'est pas demeure dans le chemin. On n'y 
a pas tue de philosophe. On n'y a pas assassine de voy- 
ageur. On n'y a pas execute de dessein. Est-ce qu'on 
n'a pas mange les trois voyageurs ? Non, on ne les a pas 
mange. Us sont morts, n'est- ce pas ? Oui, ils sont morts. 
C'est un malheur, n'est-ce pas ? Oui, c'est un malheur. 
Est-ce que tous les voyageurs sont morts? Oui, ils sont 
morts tous. Adieu, aux trois voyageurs. 



IDIOMS. 



An acquaintance with a few of the common-place phrases of every-day 
use will be found of considerable utility to the student of a modern lan- 
guage. These phrases, in general, involve the most idiomatic construc- 
tions of the language, and may aid the learner in comprehending other 
expressions of a similar nature, but of less frequent occurrence. Besides., 
if the learner has any intercourse at all with persons who speak the ian 
guage, he will hear these phrases so often repeated that they cannot fail 
of becoming familiar to his ear, and so he will ultimately arrive at under- 
standing a part at least of what is said. To charge the mind, however, 
with a multitude of these phrases would not be advisable ; a single phrase, 
if properly handled, might be turned to as much account as a whole book 
of " Dialogues." Suppose, for example, the learner to put in French, to 
a native of France, the question " What do you call this in French ?" he 
might by this means elicit the whole vocabulary of the language, and 
carry on a colloquy of as much practical utility as a more extended con- 



INTRODUCTORY PHRASES. 73 

versation. Again, supposing the learner on the other side of the Channel, 

the phrase " Which is the way to ?" would elicit an indefinite variety 

of reply that would be readily understood by the querist. The learner 
might in this manner get familiarized with the realities of the language, 
even while his knowledge of it were limited to the two phrases we have 
been speaking of. All the benefit that a beginner could possibly derive 
from a teacher is an early induction to the practice of a language, but 
how few teachers of French possess the art of making themselves under- 
stood to their junior pupils in French ! Their lessons for the most part 
consist in illogical explanations, and commonly in so very bad English 
as to excite laughter — how the ear of the student can be familiarized with 
the French language by such means we cannot possibly conceive. We 
shall give for the present, reading exercise a series of such familiar every- 
day expressions as we may consider most likely to be of practical utility. 
Of these we shall give the English equivalents, together with the value 
of each individual word. There is no necessity for us giving the pro- 
nunciation of these phrases, as the learner who has carefully attended to 
our remarks in the preceding lessons, can now pronounce French per- 
fectly well. We shall, however, point out any peculiarity in the pro- 
nunciation of the words that is not in accordance with the principles we 
have laid down. 

INTRODUCTORY PHRASES. 

Parlez*-vous Frangais ? ... Do you speak French ? 

Un peu A little. 

Je comprends le Francais, mais je I understand French, but do not 

ne le parle pas. speak it. 

Vous etesf Frangais, je pense, You are a Frenchman, I suppose, 

Monsieur ? Sir ? 

Oui Monsieur, je le suis . . . Yes Sir, I am. 

Combien de tempsj etes-vous reste How long have you been in Eng- 

en Angleterre ?$ land ? 

Aimez-vous beaucoup Londres ? How do you like London ? 

* We have said that final consonants are not pronounced when the silent consonant 
is preceded by an unaccented e, that letter is pronounced as if written e, thus parltz 
is pronounced as if written parU ; aimcz, as if written aimc ; rcpeter, rcpete ; and so 
in all similar cases. 

f The word etes, arc, is exceptional, the unaccented e not being pronounced ; etes 
is pronounced as if written it. 

% When the letters p, d, or /, occur after a nasal, they are usually silent, as in the 
word comprends pronounced comprang, temps pronounced tang. This is because these 
consonants cannot be easily pronounced after the nasal. It is for the same reason 
that I is silent before k, in the English words walk, talk, etc. 

§ An unaccented e before two consonants pronounced as if written e, thus Angleterre. 
is pronounced Anghtcr ; richesses, as if written riches ; and so on. 



74 INTRODUCTORY PHRASES. 

Vous m'obligeriez si vous me parliez You will oblige me if you speak 

Francais. French. 

Je vous comprends parfaitement I understand you perfectly well. 

bien. 

Excusez-moi I beg your pardon. 

Je n'ai pas compris ce que vous I have not understood what you 

m'avez dit. have said. 

Seriez-vous assez bon pour repeter Will you be kind enough to repeat 

ce que vous avez dit ? what you have said ? 

Fumez-vous ? Do you smoke ? 

Youlez-vous un cigare ? ... Will you have a cigar] 

Avec plaisir With pleasure. 

Merci Thank you. 



RECOGNITORY. 



Bon jour, Monsieur . . . 
Comment vous portez— vous 1 
Assez bien, et vous 1 . 
Je suis charme de vous voir . 
II fait une superbe matinee . 
II fait vraiment chaud* 



. Good morning, Sir. 

. How do you do ? 

. Pretty well thank you. 

. I am delighted to see you 

. It is a beautiful morning. 

. It is excessively warm. 

II fait beau depuis quelques jours . The weather has been very fine for 

some time. 

C'est vrai It is true. 

Y a-t-il quelque chose de nouveau % Is there any thing new ? 

Rien, que je sache Nothing, that I know. 

Quand viendrez-vous me voir ? . . When are you coming to see me ? 

Un de ces jours One of these days. 

Messieurs, je vous souhaite le bon Gentlemen, I wish you a very good 

soir. evening. 

Adieu, Messieurs ...... Good-by, Gentlemen. 

GENERAL. 

Quelle heure est-il ? What o'clock is it ? 

A peu pres huit heuresf .... About eight. 

Est-ce bien vrai ? Is it true ? 

Je le pense I think so. 

Je suis occupe I am busy. 

.Pai tort I am wrong. 

Vous avez raison You are right. 

Precisement Exactly. 

Monsieur, ayez la bonte de me dire — Have the goodness to tell me sir— — 

Comment appelez-vous cela en What do you call that in French ? 
Francais ? 

* Ch, in French, is, except in a few words derived from the Greek, pronounced like 
sit,, thus the words charme is pronounced as if written sharme ; chaud, sho. 

f An s, added to a word to indicate the plural number does not affect in any way its 
pronunciation, heure, hour, and heurcs, hours, are pronounced exactly in the same 
manner ; the learner must take care always to pronounce a plural word by its singula! 
form. 



TRANSLATION. 75 

J'y suis I am coming. 

Quelle betise What nonsense. 

Quelle je suis bete What an ass I am. 

Cela est bon That is good. 

Je ne sais pas I do not know. 

Le croyez-vous ? Do you think so ? 

Oui, je le crois Yes, I do. 

ENGLISH GALLICISMS. 

A la Francaise After the French. 

Honi* soit qui mal y pense . . . Evil to him who evil thinks 

Dieu et mon droit God and my right. 

Cuisine bourgeoisef Family cookery. 

Table d'hote a cinq heures . . . An ordinary at five o'clock. 

Au bon gourmet Go to the good eater. 

Dejeuners a la fourchette . . . Beef-steak breakfasts. 

Fete-champetre A pic-nic. 

Ici on parle Francais French spoken here. 

Voulez-vous me donner la monnaie Can you change a five-franc piece ? 
de cinq francs 1 

Que voulez-vous ? What do you want ? 

Comprenez-vous l'Anglais ? ... Do you understand English ? 

Je ne parle pas Francais .... I do not speak French. 

Je suis Anglais I am an Englishman. 

Vive la reine God save the Queen. 

TRANSLATION. 

The following is a literal translation of the phrases, giving the exact 
English equivalent for each French word contained in them. 

INTRODUCTORY PHRASES. 

Parlez-vous Francais ? Un peu. Je comprends le Francais, 
Speak you French ? A little. I understand the French, 

mais je ne le parle pas. Vous etes Francais, je pense, 

but I it speak not. You are French, I think, 

Monsieur? Oui, Monsieur, je le suis. Combien de temps 
Sir ? Yes, Sir, I it ara. How much of time 

* The French like the English, have a natural abhorrence to aspirates and gutterals ; 
for this reason, nearly all the k's in,the language are silent, consequently when an h 
is followed by a vowel, the word is considered to begin a vowel, and the rule we have 
given (§ II.), relative to elision of certain letters before words beginning with a vowel, 
is applicable to them also. There are however some words in the language, such as 
honi, of which the h is aspirated : these are usually written in italics in the Diction- 
aries, and should be committed to memory by the learner. 

f The e mute is inserted after the g in this word, to show that the g is soft, just as 
an e is sometimes inserted after the g in the English word acknowledgment, for the same 
purpose. 



76 



TRANSLATION. 



etes-vous reste en Angleterre ? Aimez-vous beaucoup Londres ? 
are you rested in England ? Love you much London ? 

Vous m'obligeriez, si vous me parliez Frangais. Je vous 

You me would oblige, if you to me speak French. I you 

comprends parfaitement bien. Excusez-moi. Je n'ai pas 

understand perfectly well. Excuse me. I have not 

compris ce que vous m'avez dit. Seriez-vous assez bon 

understood what you to me have said. Would be you enough good 
pour repeter ce que vous avez dit ? Fumez-vous ? Voulez- 

for to repeat what you have said ? Smoke you ? Will (have) 
vous un cigare ? Avec plaisir. Merci. 

you a cigar ? With pleasure. Thanks. 



RECOGNITORY. 

Bon jour, Monsieur. Comment vous portez-vous 1 Assez 
Good day, Sir. How yourself carry you? 

bien, et vous ? Je suis charme de vous voir. 

well, and you ? I am charmed of you to see. 

une superbe matinee. II fait vraiment chaud 
a superb morning. It makes (is) truly warm. 

beau depuis quelques jours. C'est vrai. Y a-t-il 
fine for some days. That is true. There has it (is there) any 

chose de nouveau? Rien, que je sache. Quand viendrez- 
thing of new? Nothing, that I know. When 

vous me voir? Un de ces jours. Messieurs, 
you me to see ? One of these days. Gentlemen, 

souhaite le bon soir. Adieu, Messieurs. 

Adieu, Gentlemen. 



Enough 
II fait 
It makes (is) 

II fait 
It makes 

quelque 



will come 



I 



vous 
you 



wish the good evening. 



Quelle heure est-il ? 
What hour is it ? 

bien vrai ? 

well (very) true ? 
Vous avez raison. 
You have right. 



GENERAL. 

A peu pres huit heures. Est-ce 
Almost eight hours. Is that 



Je le pense. Je suis occupe. J'ai tort. 

I it think. I am busy. I have (am) wrong. 

Precisement. Monsieur, ayez la bonte 

Exactly. Sir, have the goodness 



de me dire. Comment appelez-vous cela en Francais ? J' 



of tome to tell 


How 


call you that in 


French ? 


I 


y suis. 


Quelle betise. 


Que je suis bete. 


Cela 


est 


there am. 


What nonsense. 


What I am beast. 


That 


is 


bon. Je 


ne sais pas. 


Le croyez-vous ? 


Oui, je 


le 


good. I 


know not. 


It believe you ? 


Yes, I 


it 


crois. 










believe. 











TRANSLATION. 



77 



ENGLISH GALLICISMS. 

A la Francaise. Honi soit qui mal y pense.* Dieu 

To (after) the French. Ashamed be (he) who evil there thinks. God 

ct mon droit. Cuisine bourgeoise. Table d'hote a cinq 

and my right. Cookery bourgeoise.f Table of guest at five 

heures. Au bon gourmet. Dejeuners a la fourchettc 
hours. To the (go) good eater. Breakfasts to (with) the fork. 

Fete-champetre. Ici on parle Francais. 

Holiday-field. Here one speaks French. 







LOCAL. 






Madame, j'ai 


l'honneur 


de vous presenter 


mes 


salutations. 


Madame, I have 


the honor 


of to you to present 


my 


salutations. 


onsieur, veuillez 


re ce voir 


les miennes. Est-ce 


la 


le chemin 


Sir, will 


to receive 


the mine. Is that 


there 


the road 



de Paris ? Voulez-vous m'indiquer la rue St. Honore ? Combien 
of Paris ? Will you to me indicate the street St. Honore ? How much 

la douzaine ? Un franc. J lis sont chers. Voulez-vous me 
the dozen ? A franc. They are dear. Will you to me 

donner la monnaie de cinq francs ? 
to give the change of five francs ? 



vous P Anglais ? 
you the English ? 
Vive la reine. 
Live the queen. 
Apportez-moi une 
Bring me a 



pas 
not 



Je ne parle 
I speak 

Garcon du 
Waiter of the (some) coffee. 

bouteille de Macon, 
bottle of Macon. 



Que voulez-vous? Comprenez- 
What will you? Understand 
Francais. Je suis Anglais. 



French, 
cafe. Quels 
What 
Un 
A 



Cognac. Servez-moi des cotelettes 

brandy. Bring me of the ribs 

omelette. § Monsieur, voulez-vous me 
omelette. Sir, will you tome 

plait. 

pleases. 



mouton. 

sheep. 

le 

the 



passer 
pass 



suis 

am English. 

vins avez-vous ? 

wines have you ? 

petit verre de 

little glass of 

Donnez-moi une 
Give me an 

pain, s'il vous 
bread, if it to you 



* Vide Order of the Garter. 

f This is one of the words that it is difficult to find an exact equivalent for in 
English. Its meaning in the phrase before us, however, is evident enough : it clearly 
indicates that the cookery in question has all the exuberance, without the refinement, 
of res in urbe. 

t A franc is a current silver coin equivalent to 20 sous. 

§ Macon is a wine similar in flavor to Burgundy, and is a vin ordinaire very com- 
monly used in the restaurants and cafes of Paris. In price it varies from l\d. to 15i. 
a bottle. t 

II Une omelette will generally be found the most satisfactory dish that can be had at 
a road-side auberge in France. 



78 PRONUNCIATION. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

SUMMARY. 

Under this head, in the five preceding lessons, we have comprised all 
the leading principles of the pronunciation of the Fiench language. In 
summing up our observations on this subject, we have to remark, that 
there is an order to be followed in the pronunciation of the letters making 
up a word, that requires attention. In pronouncing a word, it is usual to 
begin at the first letter, and to go on spelling the others in succession to 
the end ; this process must, however, be slightly departed from in pro- 
nouncing the French words. We have said that there are certain com- 
binations of letters used to represent single sounds, it follows, therefore, 
that the single letters composing these combinations must not be enun- 
ciated individually. Again, of these combinations the nasal sound takes 
the precedence in pronunciation of all others ; for example, we have said 
that ai is pronounced like ai in the word paid, according to that rule the 
ai of the word faim should be so pronounced ; but this is not the case, 
the im is of necessity nasal, and when the nasal syllable is deducted from 
the word faim, the diphthong ai no longer exists, the syllable fa only 
remains, and the fa blending with the nasal im makes the pronunciation 
fin we have given of the word faim in the text. The nasal syllable must 
always in the same way go for its full value in a word, and it is only after 
the nasal syllable has been allowed its rights, that the other letters can 
claim theirs. We may here remind the learner, that m and n are pro- 
nounced exactly as in English, when followed by another m or n, or a 
vowel, as in the words honneur, honor, fumer, to smoke ; but under all 
other circumstances these letters combine with the vowel that precedes, 
and form the nasal syllable. When more than one vowel occur in a 
syllable, the learner must see that they do not involve one or other of 
the five diphthongs, before pronouncing them singly : in the word beaux, 
fine, for example, we have the diphthong au, which is pronounced o, then 
the consonant x being final, and the e unaccented, the pronunciation of 
this word is in consequence simply bo. 

In conclusion, we have to say that, if the learner has followed up our 
instructions attentively, he is capable of pronouncing French correctly ; 
he will be more or less accurate, according to the degree of stability 
the different points illustrated have obtained upon his memory. The 
first of the series of phrases given as a reading exercise in the piesent 
lesson, is " Parlez-vous Francais ?" if our observations are fresh upon 



PRONUNCIATION. 79 

his memory, the learner will know that p is one of the consonants pro- 
nounced in French as in English, that a has always the sound of a in the 
English word part, that r has always its vibrating sound, that / is another 
of the consonants pronounced as in English, that z being final is silent, 
and that in consequence the e mute preceding it is pronounced e ; that v 
is pronounced as in English, that on is one of the five diphthongs, that s 
being final and not followed by another word beginning with a vowel, is 
silent, that/r are pronounced as in English, that an is one of the five 
nasals, that c with a cedilla is pronounced like s, that ai is one of the five 
diphthongs, and finally, that s, being final, is silent. Our observations 
providing for all the exigencies of pronunciation, with a very few unim- 
portant exceptions, the learner may in this way analyze all the words of 
the language, and by this process he will acquire more speedily, a much 
more accurate and an infinitely more permanent notion of the French pro- 
nunciation, than he could possibly obtain from a teacher. 

Any one wishing to have the French alphabet, may construct one 
by taking an English A. B. C, striking out the w, and naming the letters 
ah, bay, say, instead of ai, bee, see. This however can serve no useful 
purpose ; some advantage might be derived from constructing a table of 
the sounds, arranged in the order we have pointed out. This table should 
begin with the five nasals, as being the first sounds in order of importance 
in pronunciation, and should conclude with the observations we have 
given in the notes to the text of the present lesson. 



HOW THE LEARNER SHOULD PROCEED. 

We have given some general views of the construction of the French 
language. We have shown how words being known, they may be made 
of use in practice. We have shown how questions are put, and answer- 
ed. We have explained the manner of expressing a negative, and we 
have exhibited the chief idiomatic difficulties of the language. We have 
also given such a view of the pronunciation, as will serve the learner for 
every practical purpose. He must now follow up our instructions by a dil- 
igent and careful course of reading ; we would suggest for this purpose Gil 
Bias, which is by far the best author for the beginner's perusal, both as 
regards the style and the diction. Before however he can read this, he 
will require to make himself acquainted with the desinences of the French 
verb. We are sorry that the limits we have prescribed for our present 
course of lessons will not admit of our giving a satisfactory analysis of 
the verb. The learner must therefore in this matter have recourse to one 



80 PRONUNCIATION. 

or other of the common Grammars. He must make himself familia* with 
what are called the four regular conjugations, to one or other of which 
series of changes most of the verbs in the language are subject. He 
must then write twice over, in full, all the verbs that are not in accord- 
ance with either of these conjugations. This done, with the aid of a 
good Dictionary, the learner will find little difficulty in translating Gil 
Bias. He will very soon be able to dispense with the dictionary, and on 
arriving at this point his task will be well nigh accomplished ; once able 
to read a French author, a month or two in France will do the rest. We 
have spoken of nearly all the difficulties the self-instructer has to en- 
counter, none of them are of so formidable a character that a little intel- 
ligence will not suffice to overcome. We are satisfied that a little per- 
severance, exerted in the manner pointed out, will put the learner who 
has attentively gone over our lessons in possession of a more accurate 
knowledge of the language than is ever attained by persons who have 
acquired it by means of oral instruction. 



FINIS, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 117 642 6 # 




